A strong first quarter 2018

The Neutraubling-based company had a good start to 2018 with a strong first quarter.

At EUR 891.7 million, revenue was down 0.9 per cent from the prior-year figure (EUR 899.4 million), which had been quite high due to timing.

Order intake rose 13.4 per cent to EUR 992.4 million. At the end of March 2018, Krones had orders on hand totalling EUR 1,340.8 million. That is up 19.6 per cent year-on-year. Acquisitions had no significant impact on revenue or order intake in the first quarter of 2018.

Earnings before taxes (EBT) decreased 14.8 per cent to EUR 56.2 million partly due to a one-time effect within personnel expenses. The EBT margin decreased from 7.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent. At EUR 38.7 million, consolidated net income was down 11.4 per cent year-on-year in the reporting period. Earnings per share came to EUR 1.23 in the first quarter of 2018 (previous year: EUR 1.40).

The free cash flow improved considerably, from –EUR 112.8 million in the prior year to – EUR 14.1 million in the first three months of 2018. The ratio of average working capital for the past four quarters to revenue increased to 28.2 per cent (previous year: 26.8 per cent). The company’s return on capital employed (ROCE), the ratio of EBIT to average net capital employed, decreased from 17.8 per cent in the previous year to 15.3 per cent, mostly due to lower earnings.

The Executive Board confirms targets for 2018. The company expects six per cent revenue growth and a reported EBT margin of 7.0 per cent.