Krones Continued Its Profitable Growth In 2015

Krones, the world’s leading manufacturer of filling and packaging technology, met its forecasts for all key financial performance indicators in the 2015 financial year. Revenue rose 7.5 % from €2.95 billion in the previous year to €3.17 billion. That exceeds Krones’ growth target of 4 % for the year 2015. Demand in Krones’ markets developed well overall in 2015. The company was able to expand its business considerably thanks to its broad range of products and services and strong global presence.

Capital spending among the company’s customers was at a good level all year. New orders increased 4.9 % year-on-year in 2015, from €3.04 billion to €3.19 billion. At 31 December 2015, Krones had orders on hand totalling €1.09 billion (previous year: €1.08 billion).

Krones improved profitability as forecast

Krones continued its earnings growth in 2015. Earnings before taxes (EBT) rose 16.4% from €191.8 million in the previous year to €223.3 million. The EBT margin, the ratio of earnings before taxes to revenue, advanced from 6.5 % to 7.0 %. Thus, Krones has met its EBT margin target for 2015. Krones’ improved profitability can be attributed largely to increased efficiency resulting from measures taken under the Value strategy programme. Market prices did not provide any positive effects.

Krones’ net income was up 15.2 %, from €135.7 million in the previous year to €156.3 million in 2015. Earnings per share rose to €4.98 (previous year: €4.30).

Very robust financial and capital structure

Krones generated free cash flow of €64.6 million in 2015 (previous year: €152.1 million). The return on capital employed (ROCE), that is the ratio of EBIT to average net tied-up capital, increased to 17.7 % in the reporting period (previous year: 16.4 %). With that, the company exceeded its ROCE target of 17 % for 2015.

At the end of 2015, Krones had cash and cash equivalents totalling €364.6 million (previous year: €336.4 million). The company had no bank debt at the end of the 2015 reporting period. The equity ratio was 41.0 % at the end of 2015, which is up slightly from the year-earlier figure of 40.7 %. Overall, Krones continues to possess an exceptionally robust financial and capital structure.

Krones to raise dividend to €1.45 per share

The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will propose to the annual shareholders’ meeting a dividend of €1.45 per share (previous year: €1.25). The planned payout corresponds to 29 % of consolidated net income and lies near the upper limit of the target corridor (25 % to 30 %).

Outlook

Based on the current macroeconomic prospects and developments in the markets relevant to Krones, the company expects consolidated revenue to grow by 3 % in 2016.
The company’s earnings are set to improve yet again this year. Krones expects to achieve an EBT margin of 7.0 % in 2016. The company is aiming to increase its third strategy target, ROCE, to 18 % this year.

Krones will publish its annual report for 2015 and its report on the first quarter of 2016 on 28 April 2016.