Rosenbauer International AG: Rosenbauer Group generates revenues of € 176.7 million in the first quarter of 2022

Leonding (pta010/10.05.2022/07:00 UTC+2)

• Material bottlenecks lead to production disruptions throughout the Group
• Declining deliveries and higher costs cause EBIT to fall to € -18.6 million
• Short-time working in Austria in April supports increase of inventories, measures initiated to improve performance
• Pleasing level of incoming orders of € 263.1 million significantly higher than quarterly sales

The Rosenbauer Group generated revenues of € 176.7 million in the first three months of 2022 (1–3/2021: € 206.2 million). The volume of the Group's business was thus 14.3% lower than in the comparative period of the previous year. The reason for this development is the ongoing disruptions to international supply chains, primarily the delayed deliveries of truck chassis, which have been further exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and which are delaying the completion as well as handover of vehicles. The material bottlenecks are now affecting the North American plants as well as Rosenbauer's European production sites. As a result of the lower gross profit and higher structural costs, EBIT amounted to € -18.6 million (1–3/2021: € 0.4 million). At the same time, incoming orders of € 263.1 million were significantly higher than revenues in the first quarter. In view of the highly uncertain production conditions, the Rosenbauer Group's Executive Board expects revenues of around € 1 billion and an EBIT margin in a range of 1% to 3% for the current year, with full order books.

Revenues and result of operations

The global economy will slow significantly this year due to the economic damage caused by the war in Ukraine. Aside from a sharp double-digit decline in Ukraine's gross domestic product and a substantial contraction of the Russian economy, this shock can also be expected to spread throughout commodity markets, trade and financial channels globally. According to the latest forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global growth will fall from 6.1% in 2021 to 3.6% in 2022 and in 2023. The war will also contribute to higher inflation.

Thanks to full order books, the global firefighting industry should experience new growth again in 2022 despite these circumstances. The development of the industry will be decisively impacted by how long the existing supply difficulties continue and how much they affect regular production operations.

The Rosenbauer Group generated revenues of € 176.7 million in the first quarter of 2022 (1–3/2021: € 206.2 million). These are divided across the various sales areas as follows[1]: 43% in the CEEU area, 6% in the NISA area, 4% in the MENA area, 9% in the APAC area, 35% in the NOMA area, and 3% in the Preventive Fire Protection segment.

At € -18.6 million, EBIT in the first three months of 2022 was negative (1–3/2021: € 0.4 million). Consolidated EBT amounted to € -20.2 million at the end of the first quarter (1–3/2021: € -1.0 million).

Incoming orders in January to March 2022 reached € 263.1 million (1–3/2021: € 277.6 million). Despite the uncertain economic conditions, the CEEU area, the NOMA area and the Preventive Fire Protection segment received more new orders than in the comparative period of the previous year. At the same time, the order backlog continued to grow and amounted to € 1,242.9 million as of the end of the first quarter of 2022 (March 31, 2021: € 1,122.0 million).

Financial position and net assets

Total assets decreased only slightly year-on-year to € 984.1 million (March 31, 2021: € 996.8 million). The biggest change was in current receivables, which were significantly below the previous year's level at € 204.8 million (March 31, 2021: € 266.8 million). In contrast, inventories increased slightly to € 462.4 million (March 31, 2021: € 457.4 million).

Trade working capital improved to € 431.0 million (1–3/2021: € 485.5 million) due to the initiated measures aimed at optimizing the cash conversion cycle.

The measures taken to reduce trade working capital also had a positive effect on the Group's net debt (the net amount of interest-bearing liabilities less cash and cash equivalents and securities). This decreased year-on-year to € 307.1 million (March 31, 2021: € 347.9 million).

Fewer deliveries and the substantial increase in inventories and receivables since the turn of the year put cash flow from operating activities at € -96.6 million at the end of the first quarter of 2022 (1–3/2021: € -48.1 million). An improvement in cash flow from operating activities is expected by the end of the year.

Outlook

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently significantly downgraded its economic forecasts for 2022 and 2023, reducing them to 3.6% in both cases. These rates are thus 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points lower, respectively, than those published in the IMF's World Economic Outlook this January. In its baseline scenario, the IMF assumes that the war in Ukraine will remain contained, that further sanctions against Russia will leave out the energy sector and that the health-related and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will diminish over the course of the year. However, the European countries' decision to make themselves independent of Russian energy exports has already been taken into account.

The global firefighting industry has started the new year with full order books and should be able to demonstrate new growth. Willingness to invest is unbroken, particularly in the developed economies of North America and Europe. At the same time, the ongoing disruptions to supply chains and pressure on the international energy and raw materials markets resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine are causing a high degree of volatility.

The Rosenbauer Group used April to synchronize with key suppliers and build up material reserves by introducing short-time working at its largest location in Leonding, Upper Austria. In addition, performance enhancement programs with a volume of around € 22 million were launched for the plants in Austria and Germany as well as for the North American locations. The level of bid prices is evaluated on a regular basis. For 2022, the Executive Board of the Rosenbauer Group expects revenues of around € 1 billion and an EBIT margin in a range of 1% to 3%.

[1]CEEU: Central and Eastern Europe; NISA: Northern Europe, Iberia, South America, Africa; MENA: Middle East and North Africa; APAC: Asia-Pacific; NOMA: North and Central America

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Emitter:	Rosenbauer International AG Paschinger Straße 90 4060 Leonding Austria
Contact Person:	Tiemon Kiesenhofer, MBA
Phone:	+43 732 6794-568
E-Mail:	tiemon.kiesenhofer@rosenbauer.com
Website:	www.rosenbauer.com
ISIN(s):	AT0000922554 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Trade); Free Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate