EQS-News: R. STAHL significantly improves sales and profitability in the first half of 2023

R. STAHL significantly improves sales and profitability in the first half of 2023

• Group sales up 20.2% to 154.7 million. Order intake increases 22.4% to 186.0 million.
• Strong improvement in R. STAHLs profitability from January to June. EBITDA pre exceptionals increase by 7.0 million to 19.0 million. This resulted in an EBITDA margin pre exceptionals of 12.3% (previous year: 5.4 %)
• For 2023, R. STAHL continues to expect sales to increase to between  305 million and 320 million and EBITDA pre exceptionals to improve to between 30 million and 36 million. The Executive Board assumes that in each case, the upper end of the target corridor will be reached.

Waldenburg, 9 August 2023 - R. STAHL closed out the first half of 2023 very successfully. Demand for the companys products and services was very high in nearly all regions and industries once again in the second quarter of 2023. Not only that, but the negative impact from disrupted supply chains is slowly weakening. R. STAHL thus improved almost all key financial indicators from January to June 2023.

Order intake increases by 22.4% order backlog reaches new record level of  137.6 million

The continued high level of customer willingness to invest led to a year-on-year increase in order intake of 22.4% to 186.0 million in the period from January to June 2023. Following an extremely strong first quarter in 2023 ( 96.7 million), order intake began to normalize in the second quarter of 2023 to a good level of 89.3 million. Contributing to this increase was high demand from all sectors as well as the significant increase in demand from the Asia/Pacific region. Because order intake continued to rise at a higher rate than sales, order backlog increased to a record 137.6 million as of 30 June (31 December 2022: 109.4 million).

All regions contribute to sales growth of 20.2% to 154.7 million

Easing bottlenecks in supply chains and efficient production and materials planning led to higher utilization of production capacities in the first half of 2023. R. STAHL thus increased sales year-on-year by 20.2% to 154.7 million. As expected, sales in the second quarter of 76.7 million developed somewhat weaker than the first quarter ( 78.1 million). In all regions, it was the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in particular, as well as the oil and gas sector (incl. LNG) that contributed to growth.

Significant increase in profitability EBITDA pre exceptionals up 12.0 million to 19.0 million

R. STAHL compensated for rising material prices in the reporting period with price increases implemented in previous quarters. In addition to the improved sales quality, the higher utilization of production capacities also led to a strong increase in profitability. At  19.0 million, EBITDA pre exceptionals was 12.0 million higher than the prior-year figure of 7.0 million. The company increased its profitability as measured by the EBITDA margin from 5.4% in the previous year to 12.3%. Net profit also increased significantly. It rose  12.0 million to 5.7 million (previous year: -6.3 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of 0.89 (previous year: -0.97).

The strong growth in business volume led to a significant increase in working capital of 15.8 million from January to June (H1 2022: 1.7 million). This was mainly due to the substantial increase in inventories to secure delivery capability and higher trade accounts receivable. This had a negative impact on free cash flow, which at -5.6 million was  3.6 million lower than in the previous year (previous year: -2.0 million). The equity ratio of 26.1% as of 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: 27.5%) declined slightly due to the increase in the balance sheet total.

Executive Board confirms outlook for sales and EBITDA for the full year 2023 target is upper range of the respective performance corridor

For 2023, R. STAHL expects a further recovery in the relevant key markets based on the overall economic and industry-specific forecasts.

The high order backlog as well as the positive first half of 2023 mean that the company can look ahead to full year 2023 with confidence. Forecasting uncertainties do, however, remain mainly due to the unpredictable developments and consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the increasing difficulties in finding suitable specialized personnel.

For the current financial year, the Executive Board continues to forecast growth in Group sales to between 305 million and 320 million (2022: 274.3 million). EBITDA pre exceptionals should increase significantly and be within a corridor of between 30 million and 36 million (2022: 22.3 million). Based on the positive development in the first half of 2023 and the general easing of challenges on the procurement markets, the Executive Board expects to achieve the upper end of the target corridor for both indicators.

In terms of free cash flow, R. STAHL forecasted a low single-digit positive million euro amount in April 2023. As a result of the significant increase in business volume and the associated build-up of working capital, in particular the higher level of inventories to ensure delivery capability, the Executive Board now expects a slightly reduced free cash flow in the low single-digit negative million euro range for full-year 2023.

R. STAHL closed out the first half of 2023 very successfully. This strengthens our resolve to continue implementing the strategy we have adopted. The company is well positioned to take full advantage of the growth opportunities that present themselves in our markets and to sustainably improve our profitability, says Dr. Mathias Hallmann, CEO of R. STAHL.

Key figures of R. STAHL group for Q2 and 6M 2023 pursuant to IFRS

¹⁾ Africa and Europe without Germany

^2.) Exceptionals: restructuring charges, unscheduled depreciation and amortization, charges for designing and implementing IT projects, M&A costs, profit and loss from deconsolidation as well as profit and loss from the disposal of assets no longer required for business operations

³⁾ excl. pension provisions and without lease liabilities

⁴⁾ excl. apprentices

Percentages and figures in may include rounding differences. The signs used to indicate rates of changes are based on mathematical aspects. Rates of changes > +100% are shown as >+100%, rates of change <-100% as n/a (not applicable)

Note

The interim report Q2 2023/half-year is available for download under the following link: https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/financial-reports

Financial calendar

7 November 2023  Interim Report Q3 2023 (new date!)

Investors and analysts conference call of R. STAHL for Q2/2023

Chief Executive Officer of R. STAHL AG, Dr. Mathias Hallmann, will explain the results of Q2 2023 and H1, will present an outlook for the current year

today, August 9, 2023 at 10:00 CET

Afterwards he will be available for questions. The conference call will be held in English language.

To participate (acoustically) in the conference call, please use the link below. After registration, you will receive dedicated dial-in details to easily and quickly access the call at the specified time:

https://services.choruscall.it/DiamondPassRegistration/register?confirmationNumber=3178724&linkSecurityString=451ba4db0
 

Along with the conference call, we will provide the presentation (visually only) through an online webinar. Please log on as a participant on the following website (no password required); this link is provided to you again with the dial-in details for the conference call:

https://www.webcast-eqs.com/rstahl-h1-2023/no-audio
 

A replay of the audio webcast will be available shortly after the conference call has ended on the companys website in the section corporate > investor relations > IR news and publications (https://r-stahl.com/en/global/corporate/investor-relations/ir-news-and-publications/events-and-presentations

About R. STAHL www.r-stahl.com

R. STAHL is the world's leading supplier of electrical and electronic products and systems for explosion protection. These products and systems prevent explosions in hazardous areas and contribute to the safety of people, machines and the environment. The portfolio ranges from products used in switching/distributing, installing, operating/monitoring, lighting and signalling/alarming up to automation.

Typical customers are the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the oil & gas industry - including LNG applications - as well as the food and beverage industry. Most of the R. STAHL products are also approved for use with hydrogen. In 2022 global sales amounting to around 274 million were generated by 1,676 employees. The shares of R. STAHL AG are traded on the Regulated Market/Prime Standard of Deutsche Boerse (ISIN DE000A1PHBB5).

Forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and estimates of R. STAHLs management. Although we assume that the expectations of these forward-looking statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. The assumptions may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include: changes in the macroeconomic and business environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, the roll-out of competing products, a lack of acceptance of new products or services, and changes in business strategy. R. STAHL does not plan to update these forward-looking statements nor does it accept any obligation to do so.