Schopfloch 13/05/2011

HOMAG Group follows up on positive development - Increase in order intake of 13 percent in first quarter of 2011
- Further improvement in results of operations and profitability
- Annual forecasts for 2011 confirmed HOMAG Group AG got off to a good start in fiscal 2011 and registered strong demand for its products in the first quarter. The global leader for plant and machinery for the woodworking industry and cabinet shops, which is listed on the SDAX, thus saw its order intake climb 13 percent to EUR 187.8 million compared to the prior-year quarter (EUR 165.6 million). As a result, order backlog climbed 9 percent to EUR 218.5 million as of March 31, 2011 (prior year: EUR 200.5 million), and indeed exceeded the level as of year-end 2010 by 46 percent (EUR 149.3 million). The low order backlog at that time resulted from the high number of deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2010 and, according to the management board, is also the reason for the moderate revenue growth of 6 percent in the first three months of 2011 to EUR 175.6 million as had been expected (prior year: EUR 165.0 million).

CEO Rolf Knoll is satisfied with the start to the year and believes the HOMAG Group is still firmly on track, also in light of the successful fiscal 2010. “In the first quarter, we were able to tap the opportunities afforded by the market and further strengthen our leading position. Customers trust our outstanding system and plant competence as is demonstrated by a series of orders in the project business.”

According to the CFO Hans-Dieter Schumacher, the results of operations have developed somewhat better than expected, “… with increases across all of our key earnings indicators and a slight improvement in profitability in the first three months of 2011.” Before the result from employee participation (EUR -1.1 million; prior year: EUR -0.5 million) EBITDA rose in the first three months of 2011 to EUR 14.2 million (prior year: EUR 12.4 million), EBIT to EUR 6.9 million (prior year: EUR 5.2 million) and EBT to EUR 4.5 million (prior year: EUR 3.3 million). The net profit for the period after non-controlling interests came to EUR 1.5 million (prior year: EUR 1.2 million), and leads to earnings per share of EUR 0.10 (prior year: EUR 0.08).

The number of employees in the HOMAG Group increased to 5,071 as of March 31, 2011, compared to the 5,051 workers employed as of year-end 2010 and the 4,956 employed as of March 31, 2010. For the most part, the increase reflected hiring activities at the foreign production companies in China and Poland and at the foreign sales companies HOMAG South America and HOMAG Asia.

OutlookIn the second and third quarters of 2011, the HOMAG Group’s management board anticipates sales revenue to rise compared to the first three months of the year based on the speed at which the order backlog rose again at the end of March. The results of operations are likewise expected to improve further in the current quarter despite an extraordinary burden on earnings from the project to restructure the subsidiary BÜTFERING and the cost of participating in the Ligna trade fair. Rolf Knoll looks forward to the industry’s leading trade fair with optimism, even though he anticipates that there might be some spending reluctance in the run up to it: “We are again able present to our customers numerous product innovations and enhancements and expect positive impulses, especially in European markets, which should be reflected in a healthy post-trade-fair business, especially in the second half of 2011.”

After closing the first quarter, the management board confirms all of the forecasts made to date for the full year 2011. Subject to the caveats that continue to apply as regards there being no major setbacks to global economic development, the Group aims to generate at least a mid-single-digit percentage increase in sales revenue and also generate moderate growth in order intake compared to 2010. It also intends to significantly increase its net profit and operating result (EBITDA before employee participation) slightly more than the targeted sales revenue growth.

Moreover, the management board has reiterated the objective it had already announced in the past for the HOMAG Group to gradually approach its pre-crisis figures. “From a current perspective, we believe it is possible to achieve this objective from 2013 onwards,” says CEO Knoll.

Disclaimers
This press release contains certain statements relating to the future. Future-oriented statements are all those statements that do not pertain to historical facts and events or expressions pertaining to the future such as “believes”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “forecasts”, “intend”, “may”, “will”, “should” or similar expressions. Such future-oriented statements are subject to risks and uncertainty since they relate to future events and are based on current assumptions of the company, which may not occur in the future or may not occur in the anticipated form. The company points out that such future-oriented statements do not guarantee the future; actual results including the financial position and the profitability of the HOMAG Group as well as the development of economic and regulatory framework conditions may deviate significantly (and prove unfavorable) from what is expressly or implicitly assumed or described in these statements. Even if the actual results of the HOMAG Group including the financial position and profitability as well as the economic and regulatory framework conditions should coincide with the future-oriented statements in this press release, it cannot be guaranteed that the same will hold true in the future.