• Sales revenues rose to € 466.1 million (previous year: € 451.8 million)
  • Earnings after taxes:  € 10.4 million (previous year: € 10.3 million)
  • Consolidation of cooperation with Mori Seiki
  • Dividend payout for financial year 2013 planned

Bielefeld. The year began as expected for GILDEMEISTER: Order intake was € 518.7 million; the comparable period for the previous year (€ 605.1 million) was marked by several major orders. Sales revenues rose to € 466.1 million (previous year: € 451.8 million). The earnings situation developed constantly: EBITDA amounted to € 28.1 million (previous year: € 28.6 million), EBIT reached € 17.0 million (previous year: € 18.8 million) and EBT amounted to € 15.1 million (previous year: € 15.0 million). As at 31 March 2013, the group reports earnings after taxes of € 10.4 million (previous year: € 10.3 million).

Sales revenues in the first quarter were € 466.1 million and thus exceeded the previous year's figure by € 14.3 million (€ 451.8 million). Domestic sales revenues were € 150.9 million, international sales revenues rose by 17% to € 315.2 million. The export share rose to 68% (previous year: 59%).

Order intake in the first quarter was € 518.7 million and as expected was below the previous year's record figure (€ 605.1 million), which was marked by several major orders. Domestic orders amounted to € 163.7 million (previous year: € 223.6 million). They were affected by the general reluctance to invest in Germany. International orders amounted to € 355.0 million (previous year: € 381.5 million). The share of foreign business rose to 68% (previous year: 63%).

On 31 March 2013, order backlog within the group was € 1,056.1 (31 Dec. 2012: € 1,003.5 million).

The profit situation of the GILDEMEISTER group in the first quarter developed constantly. EBITDA was € 28.1 million (previous year: € 28.6 million), EBIT reached € 17.0 million (previous year: € 18.8 million) and EBT was € 15.1 million (previous year: € 15.0 million). As at 31 March 2013, the group recorded earnings after taxes of € 10.4 million (previous year: € 10.3 million).

Investments in tangible and in intangible assets amounted to € 10.6 million (previous year's figure: € 11.4 million) in the first three months.

On 31 March 2013, GILDEMEISTER had 6,548 employees, of which 201 were trainees (31 Dec. 2012: 6,496). Thus, the number of employees rose by 52. At the end of the first quarter, our domestic companies had 3,755 employees (57%) and our foreign companies had 2,793 employees (43%). Personnel expenses amounted to € 114.3 million (previous year's period: € 108.8 million). The personnel ratio was 23.0% (previous year's period: 22.3%).

The GILDEMEISTER share price was € 16.38 (2 Jan. 2013) at the beginning of the year and € 16.39 (28 March 2013) at the end of the first quarter. The current share price is € 17.72 (6 May 2013).

Forecast:

The worldwide market for machine tools will still show a slight overall improve-ment in 2013. According to the most recent forecast of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW) and the British Economic Research Institute, Oxford Economics (status: April 2013), growth in world consumption is only expected to rise by 2.4% to € 67.9 billion. The growth rate was therefore revised down by more than 5 percentage points compared to the forecast in autumn (October 2012: +7.6%).

The Executive Board sees positive impetus for the business primarily in the Asian and American markets, as well as in Russia The continued stagnation in the European market and reluctance to invest in Germany are having a negative impact on our business. The industry's major trade shows, Metalloobrabotka in Moscow (27 - 31 May 2013) and the EMO in Hanover (16 - 21 Sep. 2013) will play a key role in our international sales activities in the current year. Moreover, we are planning to further expand our international production sites.

We will extend our cooperation with Mori Seiki to the Chinese and Russian markets. GILDEMEISTER Aktiengesellschaft and Mori Seiki Co., Ltd., Nagoya (Japan), plan to further deepen their successful partnership, established in 2009. A corresponding Cooperation Agreement between the partners was signed on 20 March 2013. The planned capital measures including the resulting deepening of the cooperation, are subject to the approval of the relevant anti-trust authorities.

GILDEMEISTER is planning order intake of around € 2 billion for 2013. Due to these expectations and on the basis of our order backlog, sales revenues shall amount to around € 2 billion. Based on the premise that the market will develop as expected, we are planning to achieve EBT of around € 120 million and as a result, an annual net profit of around € 82 million. Subject to these developments, we are planning to make a dividend payout for financial year 2013.

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