ALNO AG enjoys successful financial year

Pfullendorf, 25 February 2016 – Business remains healthy at the ALNO Group, which posted sales and earnings growth once again in the final quarter of 2015 – the fourth in a row. Based on the preliminary figures, ALNO generated sales of 521.5 million euros* in the 2015 financial year, up by 18.6 million euros or 3.7 per cent year on year (502.9 million euros). Adjusted for special effects, EBITDA improved by 28.3 million euros or 100.3 per cent from -28.2 million euros to 0.1 million euros. The EBITDA figure for the 2015 financial year would be 27.0 million euros if these special effects were included. They relate to an amount of just under 27 million euros from the deconsolidation of Impuls Küchen GmbH as at 30 June 2015. The previous year’s EBITDA stood at 43.1 million euros including 71 million euros in special effects as at 1 January 2014 arising from the acquisition of AFP.

In the fourth quarter of 2015 alone, the ALNO Group improved its sales by 4.6 million euros or 3.7 per cent to 128.6 million euros (previous year: 124.0 million euros).

Excluding special effects, EBITDA climbed by 8.7 million euros or 104.5 per cent to 0.4 million euros (previous year: -8.3 million euros). ALNO had already reported increases in sales and in earnings adjusted for special effects in the first three quarters of 2015.

Globalisation strategy with a marked positive impact

“The 2015 financial year was a successful one for ALNO AG,” said a happy Max Müller, CEO of ALNO AG. “All the plans we announced during the year were successfully put in place and are having a really positive effect. For the first time, the globalisation strategy we adopted in 2012/13 has borne fruit throughout an entire financial year – a clear sign that we are on the right track, even though we’ve needed a fair bit of patience.” For instance, the increased international focus at ALNO’s foreign subsidiaries is making an ever-greater contribution to the Group’s growth. At the end of the 2015 financial year, foreign operations made up 56 per cent of sales compared with a mere 29 per cent in 2012. “

It’s helping us become even less dependent on the aggressive German market,” Max Müller continued. “Our sales strategy in other countries is focusing increasingly on vertical integration. This means that we are operating a growing number of our own shops, generating a lucrative profit margin that is some way above what you would usually get in Germany.”

Centralisation project virtually completed

The Group’s strategic realignment has also been completed successfully, with the centralisation project and associated downsizing of administrative and management positions now more or less finished in Germany. There have been around 100 job cuts in all at the Group’s three sites in the country, with a handful of jobs having already been cut abroad in the first half of the year. Together, these two measures will lead to a sustained increase in the operating result worth some 7 million euros.

The sale of Impuls Küchen GmbH has enabled the Group to significantly improve the market positioning of its three remaining brands ALNO, Wellmann and Pino. Max Müller: “There aren’t any overlaps any more. We firmly believe that, together with the ongoing optimisation of our product portfolio, this move will also lead to much-improved results in 2016.”

A clear commitment by Whirlpool and Comco

New agreements were signed with Comco Holding AG and the Whirlpool Corporation, the largest shareholder in ALNO AG, fully releasing the Group from having to make contractual repayments of some 50 million euros in 2016. These repayments have been deferred either by one year or, in some cases, until as late as 2018.

Result of the ALNO Group without AFP Küchen

Excluding the results of its Swiss subsidiary AFP, the ALNO Group is continuing to perform very well. Based on the preliminary figures, the company posted sales of 389.2 million euros in the 2015 financial year, up by 26.2 million euros or 7.2 per cent on 2014 (363.0 million euros). Adjusted for the special effects mentioned above, its operating result (EBITDA) improved by 19.8 million euros or 75.3 per cent from -26.3 million euros to -6.5 million euros.

Results at AFP Küchen

By contrast, the sales trend at AFP Küchen fell below expectations. The company recorded sales of 132.8 million euros in 2015, down 7.2 million euros or 5.1 per cent year on year. “Moving production from Switzerland to Germany unsettled some AFP customers, something that we’d underestimated a bit. We’re now working hard to regain their trust,” Max Müller explained.

Nevertheless, AFP Küchen did improve its EBITDA significantly, achieving an operating result of 7.4 million euros. This represents a rise of 9.2 million euros or 502 per cent on the 2014 financial year, when EBITDA was still negative at -1.8 million euros.

Outlook

The Board of Management believes that the ALNO Group has a bright future. “We expect the company to continue its positive trend in every single quarter in 2016,” said CEO Max Müller. “This is reinforced by our latest sales figures and healthy order books as this year gets under way. We are also pressing on with our globalisation strategy, which will see us exhibiting to some 300,000 visitors from 160 countries at April’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, the largest furniture exhibition in the world. Appearing at this show will further accelerate the positive development of our foreign subsidiaries and our joint ventures in China and Russia, enabling them to make a significant contribution to our overall result in 2016 as well.”

The annual and consolidated financial statements of the ALNO Group will be published on 31 March 2016 on www.alno-ag.de.

* To improve the comparability of the figures, those from the previous year (full year or Q4 2014, as appropriate) exclude Impuls Küchen GmbH


About ALNO AG

ALNO AG is one of Germany’s leading kitchen manufacturers, with a staff of around 2,100 employees. From its six international production sites, the Group provides a full range of kitchens to both the German and international markets. In addition to the core ALNO brand, the ALNO Group also owns the brands Wellmann, Pino as well as Piatti and Forster Schweizer Stahlküchen or ALNOINOX. The ALNO Group operates in more than

60 countries worldwide with over 6,000 sales partners. In the 2014 financial year, the company recorded sales of 546 million euros. Around 52 per cent of these sales were generated abroad.

 

Contact:

Jürgen Schulze-Ferebe

Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

ALNO AG Heiligenbergerstraße 47

88630 Pfullendorf, Germany

Tel.: +49 / 75 52 / 21 – 33 16

Fax: +49 / 75 52 / 21 – 77 3316

E-mail: presse@alno.de www.alno.de

Legal note:                                                  

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are based on current assumptions and prognoses made by the corporate management of ALNO AG or its affiliated companies. Various known and unknown risks and uncertainties as well as other factors may lead to significant deviations in the actual results, financial position, development or performance of ALNO AG and its affiliated companies from the opinions and estimates provided here. Neither ALNO AG nor its affiliated companies are under any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or to revise them in light of future events or developments.


 

 

[back]