BOEWE SYSTEC : 2015: A successful Fiscal Year for the Lübeck-based Possehl Group

2015 was a successful year for the Possehl Group. Despite what were predominantly difficult and challenging market conditions, the Lübeckbased conglomerate saw a substantial rise in not just sales, but also in earnings, thereby surpassing its own expectations.

Preliminary figures indicate that net sales rose to € 3.5 billion, which represents a new record for the Group. Adjusted for portfolio effects and price factors for precious metals, sales growth came in at more than 2%. Earnings before taxes stood at € 144 million, up 15% on the previous year's figure. Adjusted for precious metal sales, the EBIT profit to sales ratio (earnings before interest and taxes) also saw growth and came in at approx. 8% for the reporting year. Most of the divisions - in particular Special-purpose Construction and Cleaning Machines - achieved good to outstanding results, some of them even setting new records.

However, the divisions particularly affected by structural transitions,
Printing Machines (manroland web systems) and Document Management Systems (BÖWE SYSTEC), were the main motor behind the Group's improved figures. The Group successfully achieved its goals linked to the restructuring of these two divisions even before the end of the year.

Following years of declining sales, BÖWE SYSTEC once again experienced growth, of 4%. This is all the more impressive as the international market for items of correspondence continues to slide. The company's revenue also saw a substantial revival, and, as a result, it closed the 2015 fiscal year with a positive result. Thanks to the good order situation, further growth and significantly positive earnings are expected for the coming year.

Similarly, manroland web systems also saw an improvement in its business figures. Though the market for newspaper printing machinery continues to weaken, the company enjoyed a substantial boost in its performance - largely thanks to commercial presses - and posted an EBIT profit to sales ratio of nearly 3% last year. With ample orders on its books, the company is likely to see its earnings continue their climb in 2016.

Uwe Lüders, Chairman of Possehl, says, 'All in all, we are very happy with the last fiscal year. Thanks to improvements in our Group's operations, we successfully counteracted the negative effects arising from pensions and higher goodwill amortization. In fact, we did more than merely counteract them. While certain BRICS states are witnessing a dramatic deterioration in their economies, there has so far been no knock-on effect on any Possehl company. Our trademark cautious and conservative accounting policies mean that we will remain in a position to tackle risks that might unexpectedly arise from an international economy that is in slowdown.'

It is not just the Group's earnings position that has seen improvement: Its financial figures are also better. The economic equity ratio increased by 2 percentage points to 52%. The same goes for the positive net cash position, which also grew considerably. As a result, Possehl has at its disposal impressive financial resources for additional buy-ups and sustained growth. Due to unprecedentedly low interest rates and readily available liquidity, the costs of purchasing other companies have, however, increased sharply in recent years. These market conditions will probably remain unchanged for some time, even though there are already signs that prices for company transactions are settling down is a result of the current slide in share prices. Hence, in the last fiscal year, Novexx Solutions and Thiendorfer Fräsdienst were the only two acquisitions in the SME and construction sectors.

For the coming fiscal year, Possehl expects a repeat of last year's sales and earnings performance, despite the faltering global economy.

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