Quarterly statement first quarter 2018

Frankfurt/Main 26 April 2018. In the first three months of fiscal year 2018 the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved consolidated sales of EUR 48.2m (prior year: EUR 44.8m); an increase of 7.5%.

Sales from the individual services developed as follows:

The first quarter of the year included two chargeable days less compared to previous year quarter. This corresponds to a negative effect on sales, gross profit and pre tax results of around EUR 1.0m. The effect will be offset and neutralized during the year by one additional chargeable day in the second and in the fourth quarter.

As a direct result of the first-time application of the equal pay requirement at the turn of the year, the order backlog in temporary staffing dropped by 3% as a one time effect.

Gross profit grew by 6.3% to EUR 22,046k. The gross profit margin developed from 46.2% to 45.7%. While an increasing share in sales of the high-margin service permanent placement had a positive impact on the margin, a declining margin of the service temporary staffing had an opposed effect. Reasons are the margin impact of the two chargeable days less and an effect on utilisation rate in temporary staffing from an unusual high rate of sick leave in Germany, especially in the months of February and March.

Selling and administrative expenses in the first quarter 2018 accumulated to EUR 15,162k after EUR 13,348k in the first quarter of the previous year. Mainly the increase of 13.6% resulted from personnel expenses due to the steady expansion of the sales organization.

EBITA for the first quarter amounted to EUR 6,936; a decrease of EUR -498k compared as to the previous year results. EBITA was influenced by three factors significantly. First of all, the negative effect of EUR 1.0m due to the fewer number of chargeable days. Secondly, by a lower utilization caused by high sick leave rates and lastly, due to the impact on temporary staffing orders following the first-time application of the equal pay requirement. EBITA margin fell by 2.2 percentage points to 14.4% (previous year: 16.6%).

Net profit for the first quarter of 2018 amounted to EUR 4,674k (previous year: EUR 5,029k) and fell short of the previous year’s value by 7.1%. Earnings per share on the net profit for the period attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the parent company decreased by 7 Cents to EUR 0.89 in the first quarter (previous year: EUR 0.96).

Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on 24 May 2018 to distribute the group’s total amount of net earnings after minorities. The relevant dividend proposal will be EUR 3.96 per share (prior year’s dividend: EUR 3.66).