Consumables

technotrans grows with applications for the laser market

Tuesday 14. May 2013 - revenue rises by 29 percent to € 26.3 million in Q1 / EBIT improves by 22.7 percent / acquisition of KLH main driver of growth / milestone: 30 percent of revenue generated outside the printing industry

The revenue of the technotrans Group rose by 29.0 percent to € 26.3 million (previous year € 20.4 million) in the first three months of the 2013 financial year. As well as the acquisition of KLH the Print business contributed, thanks to a single-digit rate of growth for that area. The increased level of business mainly impacted the Technology segment, for which revenue soared 46.5 percent to € 16.9 million (€ 11.5 million). The Services segment, too, put in an improved performance, with revenue reaching € 9.4 million (€ 8.8 million, +6.2 percent).
EBIT increased overall by 22.7 percent to € 1.1 million (previous year € 0.9 million). This means the EBIT margin is virtually unchanged from the prior-year period at 4.1 percent (4.3 percent). The net income for Q1 2013 is reported as € 0.7 million, representing a rise of 32.1 percent on the same period of 2012 (€ 0.5 million). The rate of return was thus 2.6 percent (previous year 2.5 percent). Earnings per share, for shares outstanding, therefore came to € 0.10 (previous year € 0.08).
“Some 30 percent of overall revenue was generated in the non-print area, this represents an important milestone in the company’s strategic reorientation”, says Henry Brickenkamp, Spokesman of the Board of Management of technotrans AG. “Now measures designed to accelerate growth and also improve the profitability of the new subsidiaries should begin to bite over the coming quarters.”
The number of employees in the group rose from 662 at the end of 2012 to 774 on March 31, 2013. Once again, the increase is attributable to the acquisitions.
The segments
Of the technotrans Group’s total revenue of € 26.3 million for the first three months of the 2013 financial year, the Technology segment accounted for € 16.9 million (previous year € 11.5 million). That is 64.3 percent of the total. The increase of around € 5.4 million or 46.5 percent compared with the prior-year period is substantially the result of business expansion following the takeover of KLH Kältetechnik. The business performance was also boosted to a lesser extent by customers from the printing industry. The volume of business in that area revived somewhat compared with the pre-drupa period one year ago.
Earnings for the Technology segment were again slightly negative at € -0.5 million (previous year € -0.6 million). The EBIT margin was -3.0 percent, compared with -5.1 percent in the prior-year quarter. This development was attributable to a slightly lower than expected volume of business, but also to additional burdens from depreciation and amortisation of capitalised assets of KLH, as well as to increased quality costs, which are to be regarded as non-recurring effects.
The Services segment increased its revenue by 6.2 percent in the period under review to € 9.4 million (previous year € 8.8 million). It was consequently able to match the healthy performance of recent quarters but did not achieve the Q4 2012 level, when various projects were clinched. Its share of overall revenue fell to 35.7 percent, taking it back down to roughly the level that was customary before the major economic crisis.
Earnings for the Services segment were maintained at the healthy level of recent quarters, reaching € 1.6 million (previous year € 1.5 million) and therefore producing a margin of 16.9 percent (previous year 16.6 percent).
Financial position
The acquisition of the interest in KLH and its first-time inclusion on the Consolidated Financial Statements has various effects on the balance sheet at March 31, 2013. As well as the change in both assets and equity and liabilities as a result of the consolidation , the acquisition also prompted goodwill and other capitalised assets. At March 31, 2013 the equity ratio remained above the 50 percent threshold, at 53.7 percent.
Based on net income of € 0.7 million for the first three months, the cash flow from operating activities before changes in working capital totalled € 2.2 million (previous year € 1.6 million). The change in working capital in the first three months was prompted mainly by the increased scope of consolidation, and thus placed a notional burden on cash flow. In the same period of the previous year, € 2.2 million in cash was released. After deduction of interest and income tax payments, the net cash from operating activities for the period under review was close to zero (previous year € 3.4 million).
The cash sum of € 4.5 million (previous year € 0.1 million) used for investing activities comprises the customary maintenance investments, but mainly the cash outflow for the acquisition of the interest in KLH Kältetechnik GmbH and its Asian sister companies. The free cash flow at the three-month mark consequently remained negative at € -4.5 million (previous year € 3.2 million).
After financing, cash and cash equivalents at March 31 were up 27.8 percent at € 19.2 million (previous year € 15.0 million). Together with available credit facilities agreed and promised, the financial position thus continues to provide ample leeway both to finance current business and for further potential acquisitions.
Outlook
Economic development is broadly in line with the original expectations for the current financial year. The management therefore stands by the forecast of overall revenue growth of around 25 percent to € 110 million (give or take 5 percent).
Growth in the 2013 financial year will be driven substantially by the acquisition of KLH. Its integration into the technotrans Group is progressing according to schedule. “We view the plans to construct a platform concept encompassing our expertise in cooling across the entire group as especially promising. On that basis it will be possible to address various different markets, while at the same time pooling volumes for optimum manufacturing conditions”, Brickenkamp explains.
Management expects the print area of our business to stabilise at the current level. In addition technotrans continues to invest much effort in identifying applications for its core skills in areas beyond the printing industry. “As well as our activities in the laser market and the machine tool industry, we are making good progress in accessing the market for cooling systems for energy storage devices, for example. On top of our project with Siemens, we are working on various projects with the French battery manufacturer Saft”, Brickenkamp says.
“We believe our goal of achieving an EBIT margin of between 6 and 7 percent from revenue at the planned level remains realistic. We plan to improve earnings over the coming quarters on the one hand through the rising volume of revenue and on the other hand through better cost ratios at the manufacturing companies. We also expect the pooling of purchasing volumes to drive profitability improvements”, Dirk Engel, CFO of technotrans AG, sums up.