• Preliminary figures for FY 2011/12 (Sep. 30): sales up 28 percent to € 1.22 billion, new orders of € 1.3 billion, Ebitda margin of 9.6 percent 
• Dividend proposal: € 0.25 per share
• Guidance for 2012/13: sales of around € 1.2 billion and Ebitda margin of almost 10 percent

Schuler closed its fiscal year 2011/12 at the end of September with strong growth in both sales and earnings. According to preliminary figures, consolidated sales of the press manufacturer rose by 27.9 percent to € 1.22 billion. This corresponds to the company’s own sales target. Over the last two fiscal years, Schuler has almost doubled sales and quadrupled earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda). The latter was up 39.5 percent year on year to € 118.3 million. The Ebitda margin – the ratio of operating profit to sales – grew from 8.8 to 9.6 percent and has thus almost reached the target which the company set itself for 2013/14.

In terms of new orders received, Schuler was able to match its prior-year record of € 1.3 billion. The main sales markets were Asia and Germany. As a consequence, the company’s order backlog as of September 30, 2012 reached a new year-end record of € 1.1 billion. 

“Although buoyed by cyclical trends and strategic investments in the automotive sector, we could not have translated these favorable conditions into such strong earnings without the successful implementation of our corporate strategy and growth program,” commented Schuler’s CEO Stefan Klebert. Over the past 24 months, the engineering company has been focusing strongly on its growth markets, innovations and efficiency enhancements.   

Schuler intends to let its shareholders participate in this success. For fiscal year 2011/12, the Board of Management proposes a dividend of € 0.25 per share. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase in the total dividend payment of 27 percent to € 7.4 million. Employees will also receive a bonus once again. In view of the company’s strong earnings, the Board of Management has decided to double the bonus this year to as much as € 1,000 per employee. At year-end, the Group employed 5,443 people around the world. 

The Group’s Board of Management expects sales to match the prior-year figure in the current fiscal year 2012/13. Due to the general slowdown in economic growth, it forecasts new orders in the region of € 1.0 to 1.1 billion. “In 2012/13, we expect revenues of around € 1.2 billion once again with an Ebitda margin of almost 10 percent. Our record order backlog makes us confident we can achieve this,” states Klebert in his forecast for the fiscal year just started. 

The figures stated in this announcement are preliminary. The company will publish its final results for fiscal year 2011/12 (ending September 30) in Stuttgart, Germany, on December 19, 2012.