Rosenbauer International AG: Rosenbauer Group with revenues of Eur 206.2 million in the first three months 2021

Leonding (pta008/18.05.2021/07:00 UTC+2) * Revenues still on a high level, but below the record of the previous year
* Effects of COVID-19 pandemic weigh on EBIT, which is currently Eur 0.4 million
* Strong order intake of Eur 277.6 million
* Management confirms revenue and earnings guidance for current year

GROUP KEY FIGURES		1-3/2020	1-3/2021
Revenues	in Eur million	232.9	206.2
EBIT	in Eur million	4.3	0.4
Net profit for the period	in Eur million	2.2	-0.9
Cash flow from operating activities	in Eur million	-45.7	-48.1
Equity in % of total assets		25.3%	28.4%
Earnings per share	Eur	-0.1	-0.5
Employees as of March 31		3,986	3,976
Order backlog as of March 31	in Eur million	1,184.5	1,122.0

The Rosenbauer Group generated revenues of Eur 206.2 million in the first three months of 2021. By this, the business volume reached again a high level, but remained below the record of the corresponding period of the previous year (1-3/2020: Eur 232.9 million). Reasons for this development in consolidated revenues included delayed acceptances of vehicles and a strained supply situation for some parts in production in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These two factors together resulted in a significant increase in inventories. Contrary to the Group the CEEU area and the Preventive Fire Protection segment have expanded their business volumes since the turn of the year. As a result, EBIT amounted to Eur 0.4 million (1-3/2020: Eur 4.3 million). At the same time, incoming orders were at Eur 277.6 million and exceeded the revenues of the first quarter. The Executive Board is confident, that delays can be caught up in the course of the year and existing bottlenecks will be resolved, and it expects the company to achieve stable revenues and an EBIT margin of around 5% in 2021.

Revenues and result of operations
Thanks to the unprecedented political countermeasures that were taken, the global repercussions of the COVID-19 recession were not as severe as those seen during the 2008 global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently estimating the global economic decline at -3.3% for 2020 and is forecasting growth of 6% for the current year. These figures are 1.1 and 0.8 percentage points better, respectively, than those published in its outlook last October. The firefighting industry is a typical "laggard" of the general economy and so there is the chance that it will experience stable development despite the COVID-19 recession. In the first quarter of 2021, demand was driven in particular by developed markets in Europe, while the Asian economy continued to recover.

The Rosenbauer Group generated total revenues of Eur 206.2 million in the first quarter of 2021 (1-3/2020: Eur 232.9 million). These are currently divided across the sales areas as follows : 37% in the CEEU area, 9% in the NISA area, 7% in the MENA area, 13% in the APAC area, 31% in the NOMA area and 3% in the Preventive Fire Protection segment.

EBIT amounted to Eur 0.4 million after the first three months of the year as a result of the company's lower operating performance linked to the coronavirus (1-3/2020: Eur 4.3 million). Consolidated EBT was Eur -1.0 million (1-3/2020: Eur 2.7 million).

From January to March 2021, incoming orders were back on a par with the strong prior-year quarter at Eur 277.6 million (1-3/2020: Eur 282.3 million). Except for the MENA and NOMA areas, all the sales areas generated more new orders. Business in Asia, which has been tough of late, increased by 10%. The order backlog remains solid and amounted to Eur 1,122.0 million as of the end of the first quarter (March 31, 2020: Eur 1,184.5 million).

Financial and net assets position
For reasons specific to the industry (high order backlog and strong capacity utilization), the structure of the Rosenbauer Group's statement of financial position as of the end of the quarter is characterized by high trade working capital.

Total assets decreased year-on-year to Eur 995.1 million (March 31, 2020: Eur 1,015.9 million), which can be attributed in particular to the lower current assets compared with the same period of the previous year. The major changes result from inventories and current receivables. Inventories also dropped to Eur 457.4 million (March 31, 2020: Eur 484.5 million). Current receivables were above the previous year's level at Eur 266.8 million (March 31, 2020: Eur 256.8 million).

The Group's net debt (the net amount of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents and securities) decreased year-on-year to Eur 376.5 million (March 31, 2020: Eur 433.2 million).

Fewer deliveries and the substantial increase in inventories since the turn of the year put cash flow from operating activities at Eur -48.1 million at the end of the first quarter of 2021 (1-3/2020: Eur -45.7 million). Meanwhile, the company is consistently pursuing measures to reduce trade working capital. A further improvement in cash flow from operating activities is expected by the end of the year.

Outlook
The IMF has recently improved its economic forecast for 2021 and 2022. Thus the world economy is expected to grow by 6 % this year and by 4.4 % in 2022, which means a relative increase by 0.8 and by 0.2 percentage points. With this update, the IMF took into account additional fiscal support in a few large economies and the vaccine-powered recovery in the second half of the year. At last the pace of recovery will be determined by
the effectiveness of policy actions, the evolution of financial conditions and commodity prices and the adjustment capacity of the economy.

Past experience has shown that the global firefighting industry follows general economic trends at a delay of several months, and it is expected to hold steady this year. There were very strong levels of tendering activity in the first quarter of the year, with larger orders again coming up for tender.

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