Interim report as of June 30, 2015

• Orders received up 21.4% to €1,439.9 million in H1/15
• Sales revenues increase by 52.5% to €1,477.4 million in H1/15
• EBITDA rises from €82.0 million (H1/14) to €132.9 million in H1/15
• EBIT margin before purchase price allocation reaches 7.0% after 6.3% in H1/14
• Earnings after taxes of €41.5 million in H1 /15 after €22.5 million in H1/14
• Guidance for 2015 increased: sales revenues around €2.9 billion and EBIT margin 6.5% to 7.0% before purchase price allocation

With the results of the second quarter of 2015, KUKA Group has completed a highly successful first half-year. “We have achieved an outstanding result and are well above our targets,” explains Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG. “For this reason, we have increased our guidance for 2015.” For the full year 2015, sales revenues of €2.9 million and an EBIT margin of 6.5% to 7.0% are anticipated.

KUKA Group reported orders received amounting to almost €700 million in the past quarter. This is equivalent to a 22.0% increase. The second-highest quarterly figure to date also benefited from the orders received by the newly-consolidated Swisslog, which had been acquired by KUKA in September 2014. Excluding Swisslog, orders received (Q2/15: €573.1 million) were almost at the same level as in the previous year’s quarter (Q2/14: €570.5 million). In the first half of 2015, the volume of orders received totaled €1,439.9 million. This corresponds to an increase of 21.4% (1.8% excluding Swisslog) in comparison with the H1/14 figure of €1,185.7 million.

In the second quarter of 2015 the Robotics division reported orders received totaling €220.0 million, up 6.0% on the same quarter of the previous year. This development was driven primarily by the general industry and service segments, with orders coming above all from China and Europe. Orders received rose by 4.7% from €443.1 million in H1/14 to €464.1 million in H1 /15.
In the second quarter of 2015 the Systems division received new orders amounting to €359.6 million. This represented a decline of 4.4% in comparison with the strong result in the same period last year (Q2 /14: €376.3 million). Viewing the first half-year of 2015, Systems reported €758.9 million in orders received, almost unchanged on the €759.9 million for the first half of 2014.
The orders received by Swisslog amounted to €122.9 million in the second quarter of 2015 and to €233.3 million in the first half of 2015. Swisslog was not yet part of the Group in the previous year.

Sales revenues of KUKA Group reached a level of €757.6 million in the second quarter of 2015. This corresponds to a 49.7% increase on the previous year’s result for the same quarter (Q2/14: €506.1 million). In the first half of 2015, sales revenues totaled €1,477.4 million (€1,163.1 million excluding Swisslog). The increase was 52.5% (20.1% excluding Swisslog) compared with the H1/14 figure of €968.6 million.

The sales revenues of Robotics increased to €217.0 million in the second quarter, thereby topping the figure for the corresponding period of the previous year by 6.7% (Q2/2014: €203.4 million). It was mainly the general industry and service segments which contributed to the growth in sales revenue. In the first half of 2015, sales revenues at Robotics amounted to €452.0 million, the highest level ever achieved in a half-year period. Compared with the figure for H1/14 of €397.9 million, the rise was 13.6%.

The Systems division generated a sales volume of €382.3 million, 24.7% higher than the comparable figure from the previous year (Q2/14: €306.6 million). Systems benefited here above all from the high levels of orders received in the body-in-white segment in prior quarters and from the strong business activities in North America and Europe.

Swisslog achieved sales revenues of €167.5 million in the second quarter of 2015 and €314.3 million in the first half of 2015. Swisslog was not yet part of the Group in the previous year.

The book-to-bill ratio, i.e. orders received in relation to sales revenues, was 0.92 in the past quarter (Q2/14: 1.13) and 0.98 in the first half of 2015 (H1 /14: 1.22). The strong growth in sales revenues over the past months led to a record sales figure in the first half-year of 2015, which exceeded the orders received.

The order backlog in the Group increased to €1,786.3 as at June 30, 2015, surpassing the previous year’s level by 40.3% (June 30, 2014: €1,273.3 million). Excluding Swisslog, the increase was 2.8%.

KUKA Group generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounting to €73.4 million in the second quarter of 2015. This corresponds to a 64.6% increase on the previous year’s result for the same quarter (Q2/14: €44.6 million).

The EBIT margin was 4.6% in the first six months of 2015 (including purchase price allocation) or 7.0% (excluding purchase price allocation). The margin had been 6.3% in the first half-year of 2014.

The EBIT margin in the Robotics division rose from 10.3% in the first half of 2014 to 11.0% in the first half of 2015. The EBIT margin for Systems increased from 4.8% (H1/14) to 8.2% in the first-half of 2015 backed because of the sales effect of HLS Group. While Swisslog reported a margin of -9.1% on account of the purchase price allocation.

The earnings after taxes of €41.5 million in the first half of 2015 correspond to an 84.4% increase on the previous year’s result for the same period (H1/2014: €22.5 million).

The number of employees in KUKA Group grew by 31.9% from 9,389 to 12,384 in the first six months of 2015. This growth was primarily due to the acquisition of Swisslog and the increase of employees in the areas of general industry, service and research & development.

“Our good results are an endorsement of our strategy,” says Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG. “To remain on the path of profitable growth, we are concentrating on technologies and products for Industry 4.0. We have many innovative solutions to offer our customers in this field. As a leading automation company, KUKA is playing a key role in the production of the future.”

OUTLOOK

Given the current economic forecasts and general conditions, KUKA expects high demand in the 2015 financial year, particularly from the North America and Asia regions, and especially from China. Demand in Europe is expected to remain relatively stable or to rise slightly.

On the basis of the current general conditions and exchange rates, KUKA is anticipating sales revenues of approximately €2.9 billion. Assuming a continuation of the current economic environment and the development of sales, KUKA Group expects to achieve an EBIT margin of 6.5% to 7.0% before PPA (purchase price allocation) for Swisslog and including the positive effects of the sale of HLS Group and the Tools and Dies Business Unit. Investments in growth in general industry and China as well as the integration and restructuring costs for Swisslog are having an impact on the EBIT margin. In the coming years, after restructuring and an increase in efficiency at Swisslog, a positive contribution to value added is anticipated for KUKA Group.