Final figures for fiscal year 2019 and suspension of the dividend

Frankfurt/Main, 25 March 2020. The Amadeus FiRe Group confirms the preliminary figures for fiscal year 2019.

Shortly before the end of the year, on 19 December 2019, Amadeus FiRe AG acquired 100 per cent of the shares in Comcave Holding GmbH. Due to the very late acquisition date, the consolidated income statement of the Amadeus FiRe Group for the 2019 financial year does not include Comcave business figures, which will only be included at the beginning of the 2020 financial year.

In fiscal year 2019 the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved consolidated sales revenues of EUR 233.1m (prior year: EUR 205.8m), an increase of 13.3 percent year-on-year. All services made a positive contribution to the sales development.

Gross profit increased by 11.4 percent from EUR 99.3m to EUR 110.6m. The gross profit margin fell by 0.8 percentage points year-on-year from 48.2 percent to 47.4 percent due to the comparatively stronger growth of the lower-margin services Temporary Staffing and Interim and Project Management.

The selling and administrative expenses totalled EUR 72.1m compared with EUR 62.0m in the previous year. The increase of EUR 10.1m was largely due to the successful expansion of the sales organization and related expenses. Also included are the transaction costs of around EUR 3m incurred in the fourth quarter for the acquisition of Comcave Holding GmbH.

Earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation of goodwill (EBITA) of the Amadeus FiRe Group reached a new record level of EUR 38.7m (prior year: EUR 37.5m). Adjusted for the one-off transaction costs, EBITA growth was 11 percent year-on-year.

In the 2019 financial year, the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved a consolidated profit after minorities of EUR 24.0m, down 0.8 per cent on the previous year’s figure of EUR 24.2m.

Earnings per share were EUR 4.62 for fiscal year 2019 (prior year: EUR 4.66) in relation to the profit for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders.

As a result of the incalculable effects of the Corona crisis, the Management Board is not issuing an earnings forecast for fiscal year 2020. The original plans envisaged a significant increase in earnings of around 50 percent, including the Comcave business and further expansion steps in both business segments. Only within the Training segment there is an improved outlook in the area of state-subsidised occupational re-training and advanced vocational training in a negative economic environment. Overall, the original targets are unlikely to be attainable as a result of the Corona crisis.

The financial effects on fiscal year 2020 cannot be quantified at present due to the continuing expansion and the unforeseeable duration of the pandemic. The Management Board will reassess the situation as soon as it has reliable information.

In order to further improve the Company’s financial scope to manoeuvre in this extraordinary situation, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board have decided to propose to the Annual General Meeting that the dividend payment be suspended.

With the completion of the Comcave transaction, it has already been communicated that the dividend policy of full payment will be reconsidered. As soon as the situation surrounding the pandemic crisis has cleared up, Amadeus FiRe will return to a consistent dividend policy and communicate this.

One piece of good news from the company’s point of view, particularly in the current crisis environment, is the extension of the employment contract with the Spokesman of the Management Board, Robert von Wülfing, for a further term of five years until 31 December 2025.

The annual report 2019 will be published on Thursday, 26 March 2020 on the homepage of Amadeus FiRe AG (www.amadeus-fire.de). At this point in time, we cannot guarantee that the annual report will also be available in English due to capacity outages caused by the Corona pandemic.