Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG scales new heights:

Turnover of 200 million euros exceeded, profits increased.

There have been diverse developments in the different company areas. While turnover of over 20 million euros in the used vehicle sector exceeded the previous year's results by 5 million euros and turnover in spare parts and service also clearly rose again to 49.3 million euros, turnover in new vehicles at BeachTech (4.2 million euros) and PistenBully (127.4 million euros) fell slightly.

Turnover in beach cleaning vehicles fell by around 1 million euros compared to the previous year as expected. The previous year was subject to an unusual effect from the sale of vehicles to clean up oil-polluted areas in the Gulf of Mexico. The main sales markets for beach cleaning vehicles are still operating at a low level, because local authorities and communities are dealing with budget deficits.

Spare part and service business has grown steadily again across the Group by a healthy 3 %. The great figures of the previous year were achieved in almost all countries or were even exceeded, as in the USA and in direct exports from Laupheim.

The market in used vehicles has become increasingly difficult over the last few years. This makes it all the more pleasing that more used vehicles than ever were sold in the last financial year.

Profits have also clearly improved compared to the previous year.

The gross profit ratio related to overall performance in the Group improved slightly to 39.4 %. The company has also faced extremely tough competitive pressure, a situation that has remained unchanged in the market for both snow groomers and beach cleaning vehicles.

Personnel costs rose across the Group compared to the previous year by 4.8 % to 35.3 million euros (previous year 33.7 million euros). Capacity investments were also made here in the global service network. The company employs 477 people around the world, of whom 300 work in Laupheim.

Other operational expenditure amounted to 26.4 million euros (previous year 26.7 million euros), meaning a slight reduction was achieved through cost reduction measures despite the higher turnover.

On the basis of the higher turnover the EBIT rose from 12.6 million euros to 16.5 million euros and, thus, the EBIT margin rose from 6.4 to 8.2 %.

As a result, the Group profit after tax also improved to 10.3 million euros (previous year 7.3 million euros). This clear improvement in the Group's profit situation leads to a high profit transfer of 5.6 million euros (previous year 0.4 million years) in accordance with the profit and control agreement with the parent company, LuMe Vermögensverwaltung GmbH. The net guaranteed dividend per share for outstanding shareholders amounts to 1.99 as in the previous year.

Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is market and technology leader with its products. 7.8 million euros were spent on development in the Group in the 2010/2011 financial year. This corresponds to 3.9 % of total turnover and also represents an increase compared to the previous year (6.4 million euros). The focus for new developments over the last few years has increasingly been on sustainable and environmentally-friendly product development. E.g. a PistenBully with standard hybrid drive and lower CO2 emissions. The PistenBully 600 TwinPower, which is equipped with a diesel/gas engine and can run on CO2-neutral biogas, and the PistenBully GreenTech. The GPS-guided SNOWSat system also contributed to environmentally-friendly ski slope grooming.

The current 2011/2012 financial year (October to December) has got off to a slow start due to the modest winter sport conditions in the Alps and North America. Some outstanding orders were not fulfilled because of the lack of snow.
Additionally, snow groomers get far less use in these conditions. This means there is a drop in turnover in the important spare part and service field. The start of the season in the ski resorts was postponed many times, because the artificial snow could only be used on a limited basis to form the pistes in the warm temperatures. Incoming orders by the end of December 2011 were somewhat below those of previous years. A final conclusion is not possible at the moment, because the 2011/2012 winter season lasts until Easter. However, the ski resorts will profit from the snow fall of the last few days in the alpine countries.