Austria Andritz Group Tender

International technology Group ANDRITZ saw satisfactory business development overall in the first quarter of 2019. Order intake amounted to just under 1.7 billion euros and was thus approximately 8 higher than the previous years reference period. Sales and EBITA each increased by around 15.At 1658.1 million euros MEUR order intake reached a good level and was 8.2 higher than the figure for the previous years reference period Q1 2018 1532.8 MEUR. The Pulp Paper business area was mainly responsible for this increase and succeeded in enhancing its order intake by over 75 compared to the previous years reference figure. A decline was noted in the order intake by the Hydro and Metals business areas which were both confronted with a continuing difficult market environment.The order backlog as of March 31 2019 amounted to 7260.9 MEUR and has thus risen further compared to the end of 2018 December 31 2018 7084.3 MEUR.Sales saw favorable development and were 15.4 higher than the previous years reference period at 1489.2 Q1 2018 1291.0 MEUR. With the exception of Hydro all business areas were able to achieve an increase in sales in some cases substantially compared to last years reference figures.EBITA increased in line with sales and reached 82.8 MEUR 15.5 compared to Q1 2018 71.7 MEUR. As a result the Groups profitability EBITA margin remained unchanged at 5.6 Q1 2018 5.6. While the Pulp Paper business area was able to achieve a significant increase in earnings and profitability compared to the reference figures of the previous year the EBITA in the Metals business area dropped considerably. The main reasons for this are processing of low-margin projects on the one hand and under-utilization in the Metals Forming sector on the other hand.The EBIT decreased from 64.4 MEUR to 52.9 MEUR mainly as a result of increased depreciation and amortization of intangible assets including goodwill impairment in the amount of 4.5 MEUR.The financial result decreased to -6.4 MEUR due to the lower average net liquidity compared to the previous year as well as interest expenses for the Schuldscheindarlehen issued in the third quarter of 2018 Q1 2018 -1.4 MEUR. As a result net income without non-controlling interests declined to 33.6 MEUR Q1 2018 44.0 MEUR.OUTLOOK FOR 2019 SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SALES UNCHANGED PROFITABILITYFrom todays perspective the ANDRITZ GROUP continues to expect a significant increase in sales for the 2019 business year compared to the previous year. The main reasons for this are the continuing positive trend in orders and the resulting high order backlog as of the end of March 2019 as well as the sales contributions made by the companies acquired in 2018.In terms of profitability ANDRITZ now only expects a largely unchanged operative EBITA margin from todays perspective compared to the previous year EBITA margin 2018 before extraordinary items 6.9. The reason for this is improvements not being realized in the Metals Forming sector as well as slightly lower profitability in the Pulp Paper business area compared to the extraordinarily high level in the previous year.Wolfgang Leitner President CEO of ANDRITZ AG Business development in the first quarter was satisfactory and in line by and large with our expectations. As we expect the global automotive market to remain weak in the medium term in the next few weeks we will extensively evaluate the need to implement possible restructuring measures in the Metals Forming sector. The goal is the sustained adjustment of capacities and cost structures to the difficult market conditions and thus to ensure the competitiveness of our products on the market.