Quarterly statement nine months 2018

Frankfurt/Main 25 October 2018. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2018 the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved consolidated revenue of EUR 152.4 million (prior year: EUR 136.5 million); an increase of 11.6 percent. All business services contributed to the growth and in particular the high-margin service Permanent Placement.

Revenue from the individual services developed as follows:

The one billable day available in the reporting period less than in the same period of the previous year corresponds to a negative effect on revenue, gross profit and earnings before taxes of around EUR 0.5 million. This negative effect will be countered and ultimately neutralised by one billable day more in the last quarter of fiscal year 2018.

At the end of the third quarter, the new legal requirement of maximum lease duration per order of 18 months was applied for the first-time to the entire order backlog. As a direct result, the number of orders in Temporary Staffing has fallen by around three percent. The decrease was in line with Amadeus’ expectations. Temporary Staffing revenue increased despite the effects of first-time application of the maximum lease duration, first-time application of the equal pay regulation at the beginning of the year, unusually high sickness rates in the first quarter and the one billable day less.

Gross profit of the Amadeus FiRe Group increased in the first nine months by 15.4 percent to EUR 73.6 million. The resulting gross profit margin improved by 1.6 percentage points to 48.3 percent. The improvement mainly results from the changed service mix and in particular from the over proportional sales growth of the higher-margin service Permanent Placement.

Selling and administrative expenses increased by 16.9 percent to EUR 46.2 million in the same period. This increase is largely due to higher personnel expenses and expenses for rent and IT. Personnel costs increased due to the expansion of the sales organization, the general salary development and higher variable compensation due to successful development of the business.

EBITA rose by 13.2 percent to EUR 27.5 million. This increase was achieved despite one billable day less in the reporting period. The EBITA margin was 18.1 percent in the reporting period after 17.8 percent in the previous year.

Net income for the first nine months of 2018 amounted to EUR 18.4 million, exceeding the previous year’s figure by 14.6 percent. Earnings per share, based on the net profit for the period attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the parent company, increased by 42 cents to EUR 3.50.

The Management Board of Amadeus FiRe AG has raised its previous earnings forecast for the 2018 financial year. Permanent Placement developed very positively over the course of 2018, especially in the third quarter. Furthermore, the order situation in Temporary Staffing remained stable despite the effects of the legal changes regarding the equal pay requirement and the introduction of maximum lease duration. The other services provided by the Amadeus FiRe Group – Training as well as Interim-/Project Management – developed also slightly above expectations. Overall, this represents a significant improvement in the situation for the expected gross revenues in 2018.

So far, an EBITA increase of around 2 percent above the previous year’s result was forecasted. After nine months of the 2018 financial year, the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved an EBITA of EUR 27.5 million, an increase of 13.2 percent year-on-year. With a generally unchanged supply and demand situation in the fourth quarter, for the financial year 2018, the Management Board now expects to exceed last year’s EBITA by at least 10 percent. This has already been published as an ad hoc announcement on 10.10.2018.