Quarterly statement first quarter 2019

Frankfurt/Main, 25 April 2019. In the first three months of fiscal year 2019 the Amadeus FiRe Group achieved consolidated revenue of EUR 55.3m (prior year: EUR 48.2m); an increase of 14.7 percent.

Revenues from the individual services developed as follows:

In the first quarter 2019 there was no difference in the number of chargeable days compared to previous year quarter. Overall, there is also no difference in the number of days available in 2019. The seasonal decline of the order backlog in temporary staffing at the turn of the year in 2019 was slightly lower this year compared to the long-term average. At the start of the previous year 2018, the regular transition was burdened with an additional drop of order backlog by around 3 percentage points as a result of the first-time application of the equal pay regulation.

Gross profit improved by 18.7 percent to EUR 26,174k in the first quarter 2019. The gross profit margin increased from 45.7 percent to 47.3 percent. High growth rates in the high-margin permanent placement and training services had a positive impact on gross profit margin. Furthermore, the improved utilisation rate of temporary staff that was due to the lower rate of sick leave had a marginally positive effect on the profit margin as well.

Sales and administrative costs increased in the first quarter to EUR 17,287k (previous year: EUR 15,162k), representing a 14.0% rise in costs. This is essentially a result of higher expenditure for personnel. The Amadeus FiRe Group’s sales organisation was enlarged during the financial year 2018 already. The further expansion of the organisation planned for 2019 was successfully launched. In addition to the expansion of existing branch offices, a new branch office was opened in Nuremberg.

Operating earnings (EBITA) reached EUR 8,948k in the first quarter of 2019 (previous year: EUR 6,936k), an upturn of 29.0% or EUR 2,012k. There was the same number of chargeable days in Q1 2019 as in the previous year. The EBITA margin rose by 1.8 percentage points to 16.2% (previous year: 14.4%).
The net profit for Q1 was EUR 5,952k (previous year: EUR 4,674k). Earnings per share based on the net profit for the period attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the parent rose by 25 Cents to EUR 1.14 in the first quarter (previous year: EUR 0.89).

At the Annual General Meeting on 23 May 2019, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board will propose to distribute the entire 2018 accumulated profits attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the parent. The dividend proposal will be EUR 4.66 per share (previous year: EUR 3.96 per share).

Sales revenues and results for the first quarter of 2019 were slightly above the planning and expectations of the Management Board. The positive start is offset by an economic slowdown and a degree of uncertainty among companies in Germany. As a result, the Management Board is currently sticking to its earnings forecast for the entire financial year with an increase in earnings of around 5 percent. For more information, please refer to the corresponding forecast report in the 2018 Annual Report.