Leifheit Aktiengesellschaft: Leifheit continues on path to growth

Leifheit continues on path to growth

- Double-digit increase in Group turnover

- Foreign business accelerated

- Brand Business sees significant growth

- EBIT reaches EUR 6.5 million

- Forecast for year as a whole confirmed

Nassau, 12 May 2016 - Leifheit Group generated turnover of EUR 64.7 million in the first quarter of the 2016 financial year. This represents an increase of 11.5% over the previous year's figure of EUR 58.1 million. Both segments - Brand Business and Volume Business contributed to the strong growth, with each segment recording a double-digit increase in turnover. The proportion of overall Group turnover represented by both remaining virtually unchanged. In contrast, the share of foreign turnover increased by 4.6 percentage points to 56.9%.

According to Thomas Radke, CEO of Leifheit AG, "The first three months of the financial year have seen our continued progress along our existing path to growth. We are delighted at the positive performance of our foreign operations, which can be attributed to the expansion of the geographic scope of our business in Central and Eastern Europe. We view this development as an affirmation of the key role which the consistent implementation of our 'Leifheit 2020' strategy will continue to play in our sustained growth."

Group EBIT influenced by foreign currency result

The Leifheit Group has also once more made significant strides in terms of its operating results, largely as a result of contribution margins from increased turnover in the amount of EUR 3.6 million. However, due to the performance of the US dollar and the HK dollar as at the end of the quarter, the Group recorded a negative foreign currency result in the amount of EUR 1.4 million, after having benefited from a positive foreign currency result in the amount of EUR 3.2 million in the equivalent quarter of the previous year. Overall, the Leifheit Group recorded earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the amount of EUR 6.5 million in the first quarter of the current year, as compared to EUR 7.5 million in the first quarter of 2015. The EBIT adjusted for the foreign currency result rose from EUR 4.3 million to EUR 7.9 million in the first quarter of 2016. The EBIT margin amounted to 10.0%.

The net result for the period generated by the Leifheit Group amounted to EUR 4.3 million after taxes, as compared to EUR 5.0 million in the equivalent period of the previous year.

Brand Business records significant increase in turnover

The turnover of the Leifheit Group's strategically important Brand Business segment, which comprises the Leifheit and Soehnle brands, increased by 11.6% to EUR 55.2 million in the first quarter of 2016. This sustained growth was attributable above all to the expansion of the business activities in the Central Europe region, the Leifheit brand and the dynamic development of the e-commerce sales channel, which realised an increase in turnover of approximately 47%. Products marketed under the Leifheit brand belonging to the cleaning category - in particular, the floor cleaning product range and the Leifheit window vacuum cleaner - experienced double digit growth in turnover. Considerable growth was also recorded in the kitchen goods and laundry care product categories, while the performance of the wellbeing category, comprising the Soehnle brand, was in line with that of the equivalent quarter of the previous year, with a growing proportion of kitchen scales. The share of Group turnover represented by Brand Business remained virtually unchanged at 85.3%. The segment's EBIT amounted to EUR 6.0 million in the first quarter, as compared to EUR 5.8 million in the equivalent period of the previous year.

Volume Business records strong growth in France

As compared to the equivalent quarter of the previous year, Leifheit succeeded in raising its turnover in the Volume Business segment, which comprises the subsidiaries Herby and Birambeau and the project business, by 10.5% to EUR 9.5 million. The proportion of Group turnover represented by this segment remained at 14.7%. The segment benefited from a new customer for the kitchen products of Birambeau in France, which has been supplying since the third quarter of 2015. Furthermore, the company was able to expand its project business in the USA. The segment's EBIT amounted to EUR 0.5 million in the first quarter, as compared to EUR 1.7 million in the equivalent period of the previous year.

Annual forecast for turnover and result remains unchanged

Leifheit AG continues to expect growth in Group turnover of between 3 and 4% for the 2016 financial year as a whole. The company anticipates that its Brand Business, which is at the heart of its "Leifheit 2020" strategy, will record an increase in turnover of between 4 and 5%, while the turnover of its Volume Business looks sets to remain at the level of the previous year.

Leifheit confirms its forecast for 2016 of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the amount of EUR 22 - 23 million including a positive foreign currency result of around EUR 1 million. The EBIT forecast is based on rising contribution margins from increased turnover and the positive effect on result generated by the new distribution centre in the Czech Republic.

This year's Annual General Meeting to be held in Frankfurt for the first time

The Annual General Meeting of Leifheit AG for the past 2015 financial year will be held at the German National Library (Nationalbibliothek) in Frankfurt on 25 May 2016. "In view of the considerable changes to our shareholder structure last year in the wake of the sale of the shares of our long-standing major shareholder, we have decided, for the first time, to hold this year's Annual General Meeting in Frankfurt. We also will be offering our shareholders live transmission of the Management Board speech and other online services for the first time," says Radke.

Further information can be found in the quarterly statement for the period ending
31 March 2016, which is available at http://financial-reports.leifheit-group.com.

About Leifheit

Leifheit AG, founded in 1959, is one of the leading European brand suppliers of household items. The company stands for high quality, innovative products with great utility and pioneering design in the sectors of cleaning, laundry care, kitchen goods and wellbeing. Leifheit and Soehnle are among the best-known brands in Germany. In addition to the Brand Business, Leifheit AG operates in the service-oriented Volume Business via its French subsidiaries Birambeau and Herby. The Leifheit Group and its international branches combined have around 1,000 employees. More information on Leifheit is available online at www.leifheit-group.com, www.leifheit.de, www.soehnle.de.