paragon AG reports promising start to fiscal year 2015
05/12/2015
DGAP-News: paragon AG reports promising start to fiscal year 2015
DGAP-News: paragon AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results
2015-05-12 / 08:55
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paragon AG reports promising start to fiscal year 2015
- Revenue with substantial growth of 11.4% to EUR 21.2 million
- EBIT more than doubles to EUR 1.4 million
- Body Kinematics doubles revenue
- Full-year revenue and earnings forecasts confirmed
Delbrück, May 12, 2015 - paragon AG continued its positive performance with
a pleasing start to the fiscal year 2015. Consolidated revenue for the
first quarter of 2015 improved by another 11.4% from the previous year's
already strong figure of EUR 19.0 million to a total of EUR 21.2 million.
Group earnings also improved significantly. EBIT more than doubled from EUR
0.6 million in the previous year to EUR 1.4 million in the current period.
For the further course of the year, the signs for paragon are pointing to
continued growth. The Managing Board therefore confirms its forecasts for
the full fiscal year 2015, targeting consolidated revenue of up to EUR 100
million and an unadjusted EBIT margin of around 10%. As of March 31, 2015,
paragon has already received more than 96% of the respective customer
orders necessary to reach the planned revenue target for the current fiscal
year.
"We have stepped up a gear - even compared with the very strong performance
in the previous year's quarter - and are maintaining our growth course. We
are particularly pleased with doubling our revenue in Body Kinematics where
the investments made in recent years are now paying off ever more clearly.
That is also reflected in our earnings situation, where we will see further
momentum from increasing Electromobility revenue in the coming months."
In line with expectations, Electromobility contributed only a low volume of
revenue in the first quarter of 2015. Various European projects were
completed in 2014 and follow-up orders started in April. There were some
delays with our US customer which paragon expects to be made up by the end
of 2015.
Automotive business boosted by SphereDesign acquisition
Alongside the strong performance in the Body Kinematics business, the
company's focus in the first quarter of 2015 was on its existing business
with products for premium manufacturers. Due to strong demand for air
quality management (AQS, AQI) products, the Sensors business segment alone
reported revenue growth of almost 16%. The Acoustics business segment
maintained the high prior year level and revenue in the Cockpit business
segment grew by 6%. To boost this segment, paragon acquired SphereDesign
GmbH in Bexbach retrospectively as of January 1, 2015. In 2014, this
company generated revenue of around EUR 4 million with its 26 employees.
Concurrently, Markus Barth - one of SphereDesign's former managing partners
- has also been appointed the new director of paragon's Cockpit business
segment. Especially SphereDesign's development expertise is an ideal match
for this segment. At around EUR 9.6 million paragon Group maintained its
high level of investment activity also in the first quarter of 2015.
Alongside the SphereDesign GmbH acquisition, these related mainly to the
construction of the US production building as well as replacement and new
investments in machinery.
The positive revenue performance is also reflected in the earnings
situation. EBIT surged by 134% from EUR 0.6 million in the previous year to
EUR 1.4 million. The EBIT margin accordingly improved from 3.1% to 6.6%.
Consolidated net income at paragon AG according to IFRS as of March 31,
2015, also rose sharply to EUR 0.8 million (prior year: EUR 0.1 million).
Earnings per share grew to EUR 0.19 (prior year: EUR 0.02).
Ongoing focus on internationalization
Activities in the further course of the year will focus amongst others on
the increasing internationalization of the paragon Group and on the partly
related expansion of the Electromobility business segment at Voltabox of
Texas, Inc. The launch of manufacturing at the newly built production halls
in the US is scheduled for June 2015.
Planning work for the Chinese business has meanwhile also been completed.
Under the management of Wolfgang Ketter - the new General Manager for China
and a highly reputed automotive product manufacturing expert with more than
25 years of experience in the automotive industry - the sales subsidiary
already in Shanghai since 2012 will be extended into a manufacturing
operation and will move into new and ideally equipped premises in Kunshan
not far from Shanghai in the coming months. In the future, the new plant
will produce air quality sensors, air quality improvement systems and
stepper motors for display instruments. Production is scheduled to begin in
the fall of 2015.
The order situation and outlook of the individual business segments remain
positive and even exceed the company's own expectations in some areas, a
development to which the new strategic partnership with Triathlon Batterien
GmbH and the acquisition of SphereDesign GmbH are contributing, too.
Against this backdrop, the Managing Board believes that the company is
still well on track and reiterates its forecast for the full fiscal year
2015, targeting consolidated revenue of up to EUR 100 million and an
unadjusted EBIT margin of around 10%.
Company profile
Listed in the regulated market (Prime Standard) of Deutsche Börse AG in
Frankfurt am Main, paragon AG develops, produces, and sells advanced
automotive electronics solutions. The portfolio of this direct supplier to
the automotive industry includes products in the following business
segments: Sensors, Acoustics, Cockpit, Electromobility, and Body
Kinematics. Headquartered in Delbrück (North Rhine-Westphalia), paragon AG
has branches in Suhl (Thuringia), Nuremberg (Bavaria), St. Georgen
(Baden-Württemberg) and Shanghai (China), the SphereDesign subsidiary in
Bexbach (Saarland) and a subsidiary in Austin (Texas, United States).
Contact
paragon AG
Schwalbenweg 29
33129 Delbrück
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-0
Fax: +49 (0) 52 50 - 97 62-60
Internet: www.paragon.ag
E-mail: info@paragon.ag
Financial press and investor relations contact
Instinctif Deutschland GmbH
Michael Müller
Tel.: +49 (0) 221/42075-0
E-mail: michael.mueller@instinctif.com
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2015-05-12 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
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Language: English
Company: paragon AG
Schwalbenweg 29
33129 Delbrück
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)5250 97 62 - 0
Fax: +49 (0)5250 97 62 - 60
E-mail: investor@paragon.ag
Internet: www.paragon.ag
ISIN: DE0005558696, DE000A1TND93
WKN: 555869, A1TND9
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated
Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich,
Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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355585 2015-05-12
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