13 May 2015
SGL Group: SGL2015 measures to improve efficiency increasingly bear fruit
First Quarter 2015:
• Q1/2015: Higher recurring EBIT of €5 million at nearly stable sales
• SGL2015 savings amount to €15 million in Q1-2015 and €172 million since launch
• Guidance for full year 2015 confirmed: stable Group sales and significant earnings improvement expected
Wiesbaden, May 13, 2015. SGL Group – The Carbon Company – reported a solid start into the business year 2015. The measures executed in the course of the cost savings program SGL2015 increasingly had positive impact despite a continuing difficult environment for the core business with graphite electrodes. In addition, the reporting segment Carbon Fibers & Materials (CFM) is getting closer to break-even. As a result recurring Group EBIT improved from €0.9 million in the previous year to €5.1 million. The EBIT margin increased from 0.3% to 1.6%. The sales development was affected by a decline in the reporting segment Performance Products as well as by the slow start into the year at Graphite Materials & Systems. This was almost entirely compensated by the positive sales development in the reporting segment CFM and positive currency effects. As a result, Group sales only declined marginally by 1% (currency adjusted by 8%) to € 315.3 million (Q1/2014: €318.9 million).
Dr. Jürgen Köhler, CEO of SGL Group: “As expected, we made a solid start into business year 2015. We were able to improve our Group earnings – despite the continued difficult environment for our graphite electrodes – because the measures from our cost savings program SGL2015 are increasingly showing positive results. Therefore we are on track to reach our guidance for this year and to achieve sustainable profitable growth in the medium term.”
The report for the first quarter 2015 and further information about SGL Group can be found at: www.sglgroup.com as well as in the newsroom of SGL Group at: www.sglnewsroom.com/en/.
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About SGL Group – The Carbon Company
SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products and materials. It has a comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable the Company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group’s carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as very good electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight. Due to industrialization in the growth regions of Asia and Latin America and increased substitution of traditional with innovative materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group’s high-performance materials and products. Products from SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminum, automotive and chemical industries as well as in the semiconductor, solar and LED sectors and in lithium-ion batteries. Carbon-based materials and products are also being used increasingly in the wind power, aerospace and defense industries.
With 42 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries, SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2014, the Company’s workforce of around 6,300 employees generated sales of €1,336 million. The Company’s head office is located in Wiesbaden.
Further information on SGL Group can be found in SGL Group’s newsroom at www.sglgroup.com/press or at www.sglgroup.com.
Important note:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on the information currently available to us and on our current projections and assumptions. By nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as a consequence of which actual developments and results can deviate significantly from these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not to be understood as guarantees. Rather, future developments and results depend on a number of factors; they entail various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions which may prove to be inaccurate. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic, legal, and business conditions, particularly relating to our main customer industries, such as electric steel production, to the competitive environment, to interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations, to technological developments, and to other risks and unanticipated circumstances. Other risks that in our opinion may arise include price developments, unexpected developments connected with acquisitions and subsidiaries, and unforeseen risks associated with ongoing cost savings programs. SGL Group does not intend or assume any responsibility to revise or otherwise update these forward-looking statements.