CENIT posts on-year sales growth of 15.7% and EBIT growth of 57.9%

16.04.2012

Increases primarily due to sales of third-party and proprietary software

Stuttgart, 16 April 2012 – CENIT AG ended the 2011 business year with significant on-year growth. Positive economic parameters in Germany have led to an increased readiness of customers to invest in IT projects. On-year results increases were achieved in terms of both sales and EBIT. Based on the annual financial statement of CENIT Aktiengesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Managing and Supervisory Boards will recommend to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on 6 June that a dividend of 0.30 EUR per share be disbursed.

During the 2011 business year, CENIT Group achieved sales revenues of 107,840 kEUR (2010: 93,174 kEUR/+15.7%). Sales proceeds from CENIT’s consulting and services were up 7.7% (2011: 54,540 kEUR / 2010: 50,625 kEUR). Sales of non-proprietary software in-creased significantly by 29.6% to 41,358 kEUR (2010: 31,915 kEUR), a main focus being the expansion of business in PLM software products. Sales of CENIT’s proprietary soft-ware grew from 9,901 kEUR to 11,676 kEUR (+17.9%), largely on the strength of success-ful end-customer sales of the software products FASTSUITE and cenitCONNECT in the PLM sphere, as well as IBM FileNet System Monitor and ECLISO in the EIM field.

Gross profits totaled 69,470 kEUR (2010: 61,152 kEUR/+13.6%). CENIT achieved EBITDA of 8,736 kEUR (2010: 5,741 kEUR/+52.2%) and EBIT of 6,262 kEUR (2010: 3,965 kEUR/ +57.9%). Earnings per share were 0.52 EUR (2010: 0.36 EUR/+44.4%).

Participations/Subsidiaries

CENIT (Switzerland) AG, Effretikon/Switzerland


During the 2nd Quarter of 2011, CENIT (Switzerland) AG acquired Transcat PLM AG, Switzerland. The enterprise merged fully with CENIT (Switzerland) AG a few weeks later. During the past business year, the subsidiary achieved sales revenues of 9,991 kEUR (2010: 3,789 kEUR), accounting for EBIT of 883 kEUR (2010: 448 kEUR). The focus of business activities in Switzerland is largely on PLM solutions by Dassault Systèmes and EIM solutions by IBM. Working from offices in Effretikon and Yverdon-les-Bains, a total of 19 staff members serve customers primarily from the manufacturing and financial services industries.

CENIT North America Inc., Auburn Hills/MI, USA

CENIT North America Inc. attained sales of 10,094 kEUR (2010: 6,739 kEUR) and EBIT of 1,612 kEUR (2010: 233 kEUR). The high rate of growth can be attributed to a major one-off project as well as a positive overall orders situation. In the US, CENIT focuses on marketing its software products for the PLM field. These efforts primarily address clients from the aerospace and manufacturing industries. 29 staff members are active in the service and sales segments.

CENIT SRL, Iasi/Romania

CENIT SRL reported total sales of 1,138 kEUR (2010: 549 kEUR), resulting in EBIT of 84 kEUR (2010: 31 kEUR). 24 staff members are active primarily in service provision and software development. The marketing of PLM-related software by CENIT’s strategic part-ner Dassault Systèmes is a further point of emphasis in Romania.

CENIT France SARL, Toulouse/France

CENIT France SARL posted sales of 594 kEUR (2010: 674 kEUR) and EBIT of 31 kEUR (2010: 69 kEUR). 3 staff members primarily serve our customer EADS Airbus in Toulouse.

CENIT Japan K. K., Tokyo/Japan

The subsidiary CENIT Japan K. K., newly established in 2011, achieved sales of 50 kEUR and EBIT of -178 kEUR. Via local partners, CENIT has already been successfully marketing its software and consulting products in Japan for a number of years. CENIT now wishes to underline the importance of this market, particularly in the field of offline programming of robots and manufacturing machinery, by establishing an own presence on the ground, currently with 3 staff members.

Incoming Orders

During the past business year 2011, Group-wide incoming orders amounted to 122,900 kEUR (2010: 103,393 kEUR). On 31 December 2011, orders in hand totaled 48,177 kEUR (2010: 38,249 kEUR).

Asset and Financial Status

There are no liabilities in relation to banks or lending institutions – neither short-term nor long-term. On the balance-sheet date, equity capital totaled 32,206 kEUR (2010: 29,037 kEUR), at an equity ratio of 57.1% (2010: 58.4%). On the balance-sheet date, bank deposits and liquid assets totaled 18,135 kEUR (2010: 13,306 kEUR). The operative cash flow reached 8,266 kEUR (2010: 1,973 kEUR). In 2011, the operative cash flow was influenced by the payment of a shareholder dividend in the total amount of 1,255 kEUR, by investments in tangible assets in the amount of 1,842 kEUR, and by investments in long-term financial assets in the amount of 2,000 kEUR.

Employees

On 31 December 2011, the total number of staff employed Group-wide was 657 (2010: 634). Personnel costs during the reporting period totaled 45,457 kEUR across CENIT Group (2010: 40,742 kEUR). CENIT is currently training 31 young professionals in a variety of vocations. The trainees include students from the Dual University of Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) and vocational students in the field of information technology. A further focal point of human resources work in 2011 was attracting highly qualified staff members to CENIT in Germany and world-wide.

Outlook

While the current overall economic situation in Germany is positive, developments in the international environment – particularly within the Euro zone – are difficult to forecast. CENIT AG thus intends to adhere to its sustainability-oriented enterprise strategy. Where the situation permits, however, we shall also invest in inorganic growth.

The objective of the enterprise is to grow profitably in all segments. The prerequisites for achieving this goal are given. Following a solid year 2011, the enterprise expects renewed growth in 2012. From today’s perspective, CENIT assumes that Group-wide sales growth of 4 to 5% and results growth (EBIT) of approximately 10% can be achieved during the 2012 business year. The individual segments will perform in proportion to the overall development. For the next-following business year 2013, we expect growth rates in a similar order of magnitude, though we wish to emphasize that the forecast growth levels are strongly dependent on further economic developments in Germany and in the target markets world-wide, as well as on the readiness of the enterprise’s customers to undertake IT investments.
The complete 2011 Business Report is available in German and English on CENIT’s homepage.


Additional Information:
This report may contain future-oriented statements regarding the business, financial and earnings situation of, as well as profit projections for, CENIT. Such future-oriented statements are characterized by terms or statements such as "the company may" or "the company will", "expects", "assumes", "is considering", "intends to", "plans", "believes", "will continue to" and/or "estimates", as well as similar terms and statements. Such statements contain no guarantee that the projections will in fact be achieved. Rather, such statements involve risks, imponderables and assumptions that are difficult to predict and, in addition, are based on assumptions as to future events which may prove to be incorrect. For this reason, actual events may diverge significantly from the assumptions contained in the respective statement. In a future-oriented statement by which CENIT expresses  expectations  or assumptions with regard to future events, these expectations or assumptions are made in good faith, and it shall be assumed that they are made upon an appropriate basis; however, it cannot be guaranteed that the said statements, expectations or assumptions shall indeed occur, or be attained or fulfilled. The actual operative result may diverge significantly from such future-oriented statements and is subject to certain risks. In this regard, please refer to the Business Report of CENIT AG.
 

Tanja Marinovic
Tanja Marinovic
Marketing/ Investor Relations