KROMI Logistik AG publishes 2011/2012 annual report

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- Revenue up 37.3 % to EUR 52,465 thousand
- Return to profitability realised (EBIT: EUR 168 thousand)
- EBIT burdened by EUR 538 thousand of non-cash-effective valuation changes necessitated by IFRS accounting
- Company targets marked and profitable revenue growth for FY 2012/13

KROMI Logistik AG, the provider of end-to-end tool logistics solutions for manufacturing companies, has today published its complete report for the 2011/2012 fiscal year (as of June 30). The company was successful in significantly further expanding the 22.5 % revenue growth it realised in the previous year. A 37.3 % increase was achieved, with revenue at EUR 52,465 thousand (previous year: EUR 38,213 thousand). The strong operating business growth was mainly due to the company's consistent growth strategy, focusing more on internationally active major customers last year, thereby making KROMI's business less dependent on individual regional markets. The continued favourable economy, especially at the start of the year, also catered for high demand for KROMI's services. Despite the considerable business growth and related investments in the Group's further expansion, the company consequently succeeded in reporting a return to profitability. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to EUR 168 thousand (previous year: EUR -1,054 thousand).

When adjusting for additional expenses on pension funds arising from unrealised valuation losses (EUR 283 thousand), and on currency translation (EUR 255 thousand), the Group generated EUR 706 thousand of earnings from its pure operating business. KROMI reported earnings before tax (EBT) of EUR 111 thousand, following EUR -1,074 thousand in the prior year. After deducting EUR 321 thousand of income taxes, consolidated net income stood at EUR -210 thousand, compared with EUR -1,068 thousand in the previous year.

Full order books at KROMI's customers catered for continued high demand for precision tools, particularly at the start of the year. Although the first signs of a cooling-down were observable in KROMI's important customer sectors at the end of the period under review, continued stable fourth-quarter revenue reflects the customer structure's robustness and diversity. Growth in the operating business also fed through to a higher level in the cost of materials, which increased from EUR 28,344 thousand to EUR 39,170 thousand. At the same time, the cost of materials ratio rose only slightly from 74.2 % in the previous year to 74.7 %. Staff costs rose from EUR 6,041 thousand to EUR 7,599 thousand due to higher staff numbers and valuation adjustments to pension provisions. Other operating expenses also posted a marked increase from EUR 5,072 thousand to EUR 5,946 thousand, partly due to additional foreign currency translation charges.

"KROMI Logistik looks back on a high-growth 2011/2012 fiscal year. We benefitted from our customers' high production levels, especially in the first half of the year. Customers from the general mechanical engineering and automotive supply sectors, which are achieving new record results on global markets, remained important pillars. Our policy of increasingly also supplying internationally active, large-scale machining groups with tools at various sites continues to bear fruit as a consequence," was how Jörg Schubert, CEO of KROMI Logistik AG commented on the business growth. "The fact that we already generate 34 % of our sales revenue with customers abroad provides further evidence of our internationalisation strategy's success," he went on to add.

For the Managing Board, this growth is also the result of the parent company's normal business operations. The EUR 1,198 thousand result which was reported, and which also played a significant role in taxation at Group level, again documents KROMI Logistik AG's profitable growth in the fiscal year elapsed. In the previous reporting period, the company reported a EUR 126 thousand loss in this context.

Along with the economy, and consequently existing customers' production levels, a primary decisive factor will also be the processing of more complex customer structures which accompany the Group's growing internationalisation.

Despite the continued uncertainty on financial markets, KROMI Logistik assumes that the growth dynamism will continue during the 2012/13 fiscal year which is already underway. "Although production planning conveyed by customers is currently somewhat moderate for the coming months, we do not anticipate a sharp slowdown in the generally positive trend within the tool management business. As a consequence, the Managing Board is assuming that it will again achieve significant sales revenue growth in the double-digit percentage range in the 2012/2013 fiscal year," noted CFO Uwe Pfeiffer, providing an outlook on the company's future trend. "Should our customers' production levels continue to develop steadily, we are aiming to report a further increase in our EBIT margin in the current fiscal year as part of our gradual, profitable growth strategy. As a consequence, the EBIT margin will prospectively remain within the lower single-digit percentage range," Pfeiffer went on to add.

Over the course of the day, KROMI Logistik AG will make its full IFRS consolidated financial statements for the 2011/2012 fiscal year available for downloading on its website at www.kromi.de within the Investor Relations area.