Lucibel: Revenue for First Nine Months of 2014 up 21%; €1.2m Contract Awarded in October by the Town of Istres

RUEIL, France, October 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

• Stable Q3 sales, with steady growth in the main business areas (France, MEA) offsetting the European impact of withdrawal from white-label trading
• Consolidated revenue as at 30 September 2014 of €17.8m, an increase of 21% (+40% when excluding the contribution of the white-label trading business)
• Citéclaire, Lucibel's subsidiary dedicated to public authorities, has won a €1.2m tender to provide LEDs for the town of Istres
• Other large projects are expected to materialise before the end of the year

Lucibel, a specialist in LED (light-emitting diode) lighting solutions, has posted its operating highlights for the third quarter of 2014.

in EURm                                              Q3              9 months
    (unaudited consolidated IFRS-compliant data) 2014  2013  Change 2014  2013  Change
    France                                        4.6   4.2  +9.4%  15.2  10.6  +43.5%
                               as a % of revenue 79.7% 73.2%        85.4% 72.0%
    International                                 1.2   1.5 -23.9%   2.6   4.1  -37.0%
                               as a % of revenue 20.3% 26.8%        14.6% 28.0%
    Group revenue                                 5.8   5.7  +0.4%  17.8  14.7  +21.0%

Lucibel generated Group revenue of €5.8m in the third quarter of 2014, more or less unchanged (+0.4%) vs the same period of the previous year. Sales growth in France was offset by a decline in international sales as a result of the decision taken by Lucibel in 2013 to withdraw from the white-label product trading business. Cumulative Group revenue over the first nine months was €17.8m, up 21.0% vs the corresponding period of 2013.

Lucibel's sales in France totalled €4.6m in the third quarter of 2014, which was an increase of 9.4% in the traditionally quieter summer period. As a result, cumulative sales in France in the first nine months of 2014 were €15.2m, a sharp rise of 43.5% compared with the same period of the previous year.

As already noticed in the first half of the year, the results of the international business were more mixed. In 2013, the Group began gradual withdrawal from its white-label product trading business, in which it engaged mainly with European clients, in order to focus on Lucibel-branded products. This logical development resulted in a sharp decline in European business outside France, with nine-month revenues dropping from €3.0m in 2013 to €1.3m in 2014.

However, the impact of this withdrawal is being gradually offset by higher sales of Lucibel products. Excluding sales of white-label products, cumulative Group revenue over the first nine months would have increased by 40% and international revenue by 3%. This refocusing helped improve the Group's gross margin from 34.4% in the first half of 2013 to 46.3% in the same period of 2014 (please refer to the press release of 15 September 2014 for more information).

The recently created MEA (Middle East and Africa) zone continues to develop well, with its nine-month revenues up by 10% year on year to €1.1m. The building of relationships with local distributors (in North Africa and Saudi Arabia) has already led to orders of increasing size and to an ever expanding project portfolio.

Citéclaire wins its first tender to provide LED lighting solutions for a large town

Citéclaire is Lucibel's subsidiary dedicated to addressing the particular needs of public authorities. It has used a lighting operator model to create an innovative range of solutions specifically for these clients. In October, Citéclaire won the tender for the relamping of a selection of buildings in Istres (Bouche-du-Rhône), and will take part in this 40000 people towns energy transition program. In 2014, municipal leaders in Istres launched a plan to replace all lighting systems with LED solutions. Following replacement of public lighting, the scheme will move on to address public buildings such as schools, nurseries, administrative offices and community halls.

Citéclaire won this first public tender because its offer best addressed strict specifications and stringent lighting requirements. Before the end of August 2015, 29buildings will be equipped with Lucibel lighting solutions. The value of this 10-year contract amounts to 1.2 million €, half of which would be recognised as revenues on 2015.

Eric Anselmet, CEO of Citéclaire, made the following comment: "The lighting operator model is straightforward: in exchange for a rental charge, we install the equipment at premises of public authorities and maintain it for the duration of the contract. LED technology significantly reduces energy consumption, and since Citéclaire takes care of maintenance, rental costs are compensated by the savings made. This allows public authorities to reduce their operating budgets without any investment cost."

Year-end business outlook: several large projects in the pipeline in France and abroad

There were plenty of international trade fairs in the autumn, which helped Lucibel to establish many new contacts and highlight the technology Lucibel uses in its range of products and solutions. The LiFi offer, which Lucibel has designed for museums and art galleries, has been chosen as one of the 10must-see innovations at LuxLive, which takes place in London on 19-20 November 2014.

Lucibel operations at the Barentin site (Haute-Normandie) started over the last few weeks, as agreed with Schneider Electric and in line with project calendar, with production of Lucibel's first "made in France" products. This emblematic relocation was highlighted in a long segment on France2's new economic TV show "L'angle eco" broadcasted on 27 October 2014.

The Group also expects to firm up several large projects in France and abroad before the end of the year, demonstrating the validity of its segmented approach with a technically and commercially innovative range of products and solutions. Although things are moving more slowly than anticipated in light of the economic environment, particularly in France, the Group has noticed a growing number of large tenders, and every month it expands its portfolio of potential sales that will form the basis of its future growth.

Frédéric Granotier, Chairman and CEO of Lucibel, made the following comment: "In the quarter that just ended, we focused mainly on preparing for the end of the year, which is a key commercial period in the lighting sector. The launch of operations at the Barentin site will help us better meet the demand for customized products and differentiate us from our competitors.

We are particularly delighted and proud that Citéclaire was chosen by the town of Istres to equip some of its buildings. The lighting operator model shows how we can offer our clients high-value-added services, with financing made easier by the extremely quick return on investment LED technology provides. The success of this first tender validates the model of Citéclaire, which is already working on four similar projects.

All the Group's teams are focused to ensure commercial success at the end of this year and to lay the foundations for another year of growth in 2015."

Next financial publication

28 January 2015, after the market closes: 2014 annual revenue

Lucibel will be meeting investors on 12-13 November at the Clean Green Event (Paris, Espace Pierre Cardin) and will also be attending the Actionaria trade fair (Paris, Palais des Congres) on 21-22 November.

About Lucibel:

Lucibel is an innovative French company which designs next-generation lighting products and solutions based on LED technology in France and markets them in almost 30 countries. For further information, please visit the company's website http://www.lucibel.com

Lucibel is listed on Alternext Paris / Ticker: ALUCI / ISIN: FR0011884378

Lucibel is eligible for French equity savings plans (PEA), SME equity savings plans (PEA-PME) and innovation investment funds (FCPI)

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