(DGAP-Media / 2015-05-04 / 19:07)
Financial Results First Quarter 2015
Slow but robust start into 2015
- Net Sales of EUR 46.0 million (Q1/2014: EUR 48.4 million)
- Investments lead to EBITDA Margin of 6.5% (Q1/2014: 10.3%)
- Promising project pipeline strengthens management's confidence for the
year
Luxembourg, 04 May 2015 - 06.30 p.m. - exceet started slow but robust into
2015. Revenue for the first three months 2015 reached EUR 46.0 million (Q1
2014: EUR 48.4 million) representing a decline of 5.0%. The first quarter
2015 was as expected below the strong first quarter of the prior year and
in addition influenced by the postponement of loyalty card projects in the
volume of about EUR 1.5 million.
As announced earlier, exceet continued its investments in human capital to
develop the business activities for instance in industrial Internet of
Things (IoT), multi identity solutions and e-health as well as into product
development and the strengthening of the sales force. In combination with
the lower sales level exceet achieved an EBITDA of EUR 3.0 million (6.5% of
net sales) compared to EUR 5.0 million (10.3% of net sales) in Q1 2014.
Electronic Components, Modules & Systems (ECMS) contributed 71.9% to
overall Group sales. The Net Sales decreased slightly to EUR 33.1 million
during the first three month of 2015, against EUR 33.7 million during the
first three month of 2014. The ECMS segment achieved an EBITDA of EUR 4.3
million, accounting for an EBITDA margin of 13.1%, compared to 5.7 million
or a margin of 16.9% in the same period of the previous year.
ECMS strengthened its market position in the field of products with high
reliability and comprehensive documentation requirements. ECMS rolled out
the Product-Lifecycle-Management (PLM) solution "Polarion". The
documentation software perfectly supports approval processes and
certifications, e.g. FDA compliance. ECMS improves its position for
upcoming projects and will also be able to acquire new customers by
offering PLM as a service for their own development projects.
In Q1 ECMS received different follow-up orders from Biovotion. They
supplement the order of 2014 for the development, industrialization and
production of the new Biovotion bodymonitor. ECMS also received an order
from SoNovum AG for the development of electronic components and
industrialization of a mobile stroke diagnosis device. Besides development
and industrialization, ECMS will support the certification process which is
expected to be already finalized in 2015. exceet was also assigned to
develop a prototype for a new implantable cardioverter defibrillator. The
customer is one of the largest suppliers in this market.
ID Management & Systems (IDMS) accounted for 22.6% of the group-wide sales.
The revenue in Q1 2015 amounted to EUR 10.4 million, which represents a
decrease of 19.5% compared to EUR 12.9 million in Q1 2014. IDMS reported an
EBITDA of EUR 0.5 million for the first quarter 2015 which results in an
EBITDA Margin of 4.8%. In the same period of the previous year the segment
achieved an EBITDA of EUR 0.9 million (representing 6.9% EBITDA Margin).
IDMS intensified the activities in the loyalty segment; some large projects
have been postponed to the second half-year. A new loyalty project with
ARAL was started and will be used to further increase marketing and sales
activities in this profitable market segment. The ARAL collectible cards
campaign is a project with promising volumes. IDMS expects first follow-up
orders in the coming quarter and will supply high quality printed cards and
cash-back functionality.
exceet Secure Solutions (ESS) accounted for 5.5% of total group sales. In
Q1 2015 the segment generated revenues of EUR 2.5 million. This reflects an
improvement compared to Q1 2014 of EUR 0.7 million. The EBITDA for this
reporting period reached minus EUR 0.1 million (Q1 2014: minus EUR 0.2
million). This included all the ongoing costs to develop the described
markets.
In the reporting period ESS received follow-up orders in context with the
German electronic health card (eGK) and could already execute some of them
in Q1 2015. Furthermore ESS was assigned to deliver Hardware Security
Modules (HSM) including implementation and related consulting services for
a smart meter project of E.ON in UK. The segment also won another HSM
project and received an order from a large worldwide automotive supplier.
ESS will deliver the hardware and related services. The solution will be
used for secure electrical locking systems for the automotive industry.
These HSM projects will positively impact the industrial IoT activities of
ESS.
Outlook for 2015
Industrial IoT and wearable solutions demand extreme levels of precision,
miniaturization and security. The positive market perspectives for these
segments make exceet's management strongly confident to be able to
participate in the substantial growth potential that lies in the structural
transformation of the relevant sectors. The ongoing sales and market
development efforts and the promising project pipeline of the card business
will allow a profitable growth for 2015 based on exceet's portfolio of
product solutions and competences. However, as the group has substantial
operations in Switzerland, exceet faces some uncertainties concerning the
impact of a stronger CHF against the EUR in some of its markets.
Greenock S.à r.l. a major shareholder of exceet Group SE had informed the
company in Q1 2014 that they are assessing their strategic options related
to their shareholding in exceet Group SE, including a possible disposal of
such shareholding to a third party. Pursuant to the updated information
provided by Greenock S.à r.l., no final decision has still been taken
regarding the form and timing of a potential transaction.
Annex: Performance and Structural Data Q1 2015
Complete Interim Management Report on the first three month 2015 and actual
Investor Relation Presentation available at www.exceet.lu
Please contact for further information:
Wolf-Günter Freese, CFO - Email: Investor.relations@exceet.lu
exceet Group SE
115 avenue Gaston Diderich
L-1420 Luxembourg
Phone +352 26 29 91 22
ISIN LU0472835155 (Public Shares), Regulated Market, Prime Standard,
Frankfurt/Main
ISIN LU0472839819 (Public Warrants), Regulated Market, General Standard,
Frankfurt/Main
exceet will announce half-year results for 2015 on 07 August 2015 (after
closing of the market)
About exceet
exceet is an international technology group, which is specialized in the
development and production of intelligent, complex and secure electronics.
End of Media Release
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Issuer: exceet Group SE
Key word(s): Enterprise
2015-05-04 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
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Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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Language: English
Company: exceet Group SE
115, avenue Gaston Diderich
L-1420 Luxemburg
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Phone: +352 2629 9122
Fax: +352 2629 9150
E-mail: info@exceet.ch
Internet: www.exceet.ch
ISIN: LU0472835155, LU0472839819
WKN: A0YF5P, A1BFHT
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated
Unofficial Market in Munich
End of News DGAP-Media
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352799 2015-05-04
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 04, 2015 13:07 ET (17:07 GMT)
