DGAP-News  383  0 Kommentare Schaltbau Group reports good third quarter

Schaltbau Group reports good third quarter

- Orders and sales figures up for Mobile Transportation Technology and
Components

- Investment backlog in German railway network slows down Stationary
Transportation segment and leads to organic sales decline

- Third-quarter EBIT well up on previous year

Munich, 30 October 2014 - The Schaltbau Group recorded a 13.3 per cent
increase in sales to EUR 115.8 million in the third quarter 2014. According
to preliminary figures, earnings for the nine-month period rose by 5.6 per
cent year-on-year to EUR 312.5 million. Adjusted for the contributions of
RAWAG and ALTE Technologies, which have been consolidated since April and
May respectively, sales decreased moderately by 2.5 per cent, although to a
lesser degree than at the six-month stage, helped by perceptible growth in
demand for components in other European countries as well as in China and
added stability in the sale of brake systems.

Rail Infrastructure, however, did not manage to match the figure seen one
year earlier, as in the third quarter the PSD project in Sao Paulo was
again delayed and there were no major contracts awarded to alleviate the
overdue modernisation of control and safety engineering in the German
railway network. The market situation in that field is not likely to
improve significantly before the end of 2015. The decrease in sales was
partially compensated by major success in exporting railway signals
technology, which gained additional momentum in the third quarter.

At EUR 338.2 million, order intake was 12.9 per cent up on last year's
nine-month figure, with organic growth at 4.9 per cent. The encouraging
increase in the third quarter (28.2 per cent; 9.2 per cent in organic
terms) is partly attributable to growing demand for contactors and
snap-action switches in Eastern Europe and China as well as a new order in
the USA for master controllers and panels as part of a large-scale rail
project. Moreover, the Mobile Transportation Technology segment was awarded
sizable framework contracts for road vehicles in the third quarter, which
are not yet included in order intake.

With an increase of EUR 9.8 million to EUR 11.5 million, earnings from
operating activities (EBIT) surpassed the previous year's figure by 17.3
per cent in the third quarter and, at EUR 23.8 million, were only 13.2 per
cent down for the nine-month period, compared with 30.1 per cent after six
months. The principal reasons for the decline up to the end of the