AURELIUS Equity Opportunities & : publishes Annual Report 2018, preliminary numbers confirmed

Munich, March 27, 2019 - AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8) published its annual report for the 2018 financial year on today's date. AURELIUS generated total consolidated revenues of EUR 3,781.8 million in financial year 2018 (2017: EUR 4,047.3 million). Annualized consolidated revenues from continued operations reached EUR 3,819.1 million, after EUR 3,257.5 million in 2017.

Operating EBITDA close to last year's level despite sales of highly profitable companies in the 2017 financial year

AURELIUS generated an operating EBITDA of EUR 103.0 million in financial year 2018, which was in line with the Group's forecast of operating EBITDA at the level of the average of the previous years. As expected, the EBITDA of the combined Group of EUR 94.4 million was considerably less than the prior-year figure (2017: EUR 627.7 million) due to the lower gains on transactions. This figure includes EUR 84.4 million of gains on bargain purchases of companies acquired in 2018 (2017: EUR 447.1 million). AURELIUS made a total of 12 new acquisitions in 2018, including eight add-on acquisitions at the level of existing platform investments to strengthen the portfolio companies. Exit sales generated profit contributions of EUR 6.5 million (2017: EUR 193.9 million).

Further increase in the net asset value of the portfolio

The net asset value of the AURELIUS portfolio amounted to EUR 1.40 billion at December 31, 2018 (September 30, 2018: EUR 1.37 billion).

Management to propose a base dividend of EUR 1.50 per share, unchanged from last year; participation dividend will be based on the exit proceeds generated in the time until the annual general meeting

The company's Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose a base dividend of EUR 1.50 per share (2018: EUR 1.50) to the annual general meeting to be held on July 19, 2019. In addition to the base dividend, AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA will pay a so-called participation dividend to shareholders in the event of successful exit sales. If further portfolio companies are sold in the time until the annual general meeting, a proportional participation dividend will be paid to shareholders on the basis of the corresponding exit proceeds.

Positive outlook for the current 2019 financial year

Thanks to numerous new acquisitions and the intensive work of the AURELIUS functional specialists, the Group's portfolio companies made considerable progress in financial year 2018, some of them to the stage of being ready to sell. The Executive Board of AURELIUS Equity Opportunities therefore takes a positive view of the current 2019 financial year, during which several lucrative company sales are expected. The Executive Board also anticipates several new acquisitions in 2019.

The complete 2018 Annual Report is available for download on the Internet at http://www.aureliusinvest.de.

Key figures

(in EUR millions)	1/1-12/31/2017	1/1-12/31/2018
Total consolidated revenues	4,047.3	3,781.8
Annualized consolidated revenues 1,2	3,257.5	3,819.1
EBITDA of the combined Group	627.7	94.4
- of which gains on bargain purchases	447.1	84.4
- of which restructuring and non-recurring expenses	128.2	99.5
- of which gains on exits	193.9	6.5
Consolidated operating EBITDA	114.9	103.0
Consolidated profit/loss 1,3	484.5	-42.3
Consolidated earnings per share (basic, in EUR) 1,2	5.98	-0.55
Cash flow from operating activities ¹	-132.2	-49.8
Cash flow from investing activities ¹	432.0	-148.4
Free cash flow ¹	299.8	-198.2
	12/31/2017	12/31/2018
Assets	2,202.1	2,148.5
of which cash and cash equivalents	606.3	290.8
Liabilities	1,573.5	1,612.3
of which financial liabilities	520.5	480.6
Equity ³	628.6	536.2
Equity ratio ³ (in %)	28.5	25.0
Number of employees at the reporting date	19,263	15,131

1) The previous-year consolidated statement of comprehensive income and consolidated statement of cash flows were adjusted for comparison purposes according to the provisions set forth under IFRS 5.
2) From continued operations.
3) Including non-controlling interests.

Net asset value of the AURELIUS portfolio (in EUR millions)

	NAV at 12/31/2018
Industrial Production	490.4
Retail & Consumer Products	537.8
Services & Solutions	119.4
Net asset value of portfolio companies	1,147.6
Other	253.3
Total	1,400.9