Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG: PWO exceeds earnings forecast for 2021 fiscal year

Oberkirch, February 22, 2022 - PWO AG is currently preparing its annual financial statements for the 2021 fiscal year. As things stand at present, it appears that, in addition to the pleasing business performance in the fourth quarter, special revenue and one-time effects will also have a positive impact on earnings. Due to the good earnings, the Executive Board intends to propose a dividend payment.

According to the preliminary and unaudited figures, we assume that the Group's revenue in the 2021 fiscal year will be around EUR 405 million and thus within the forecast range of EUR 400 million to EUR 410 million. However, EBIT before currency effects will significantly exceed the forecast range of EUR 15 million to EUR 18 million. Due to one-time effects and unexpected changes in the revenue mix we anticipate an EBIT before currency effects of around EUR 22 million. Capital expenditure will fall short of the budgeted volume of more than EUR 20 million due to the reporting date.

The better-than-expected EBIT before currency effects and the lower capital expenditure will have a significant positive impact on free cash flow (forecast: negative, just in double-digit million range), the equity ratio (forecast: 30 percent) and the dynamic leverage ratio (forecast: under 3.5 years).

We are also particularly pleased that we were able to exceed the previous year's lifetime volume of new business of around EUR 400 million by more than 40 percent and increase new business to around EUR 570 million. We thus reached our raised forecast - an increase towards EUR 600 million had been expected. We are systematically strengthening our global engineering capabilities at the limits of what is technologically feasible in climate-friendly lightweight construction. The high level of new business documents the success of our approach.

For 2022, we see only a slight increase in call-offs from our customers due to the ongoing semiconductor crisis. Nevertheless, we expect significantly higher revenue in the region of EUR 480 million, driven by higher material costs. EBIT before currency effects might increase to around EUR 19 to 22 million, despite several large and complex series start-ups and the absence of special effects as well as the mix shift in sales from 2021. Investments are planned at around EUR 30 million. This outlook is based on the assumptions that there will be no major disruptions in the supply chains and/or massive pandemic-related restrictions or lockdowns and that there will be no significant deviation from the anticipated price development.

We will continue to expand our international sites at a rapid pace, efficiently carry out the ongoing ramp-ups and ramp-downs of large-scale series production, and continue to achieve profitable growth. As a company that is completely independent of the combustion engine, we are a sought-after partner for our customers as the mobility industry undergoes a process of transformation. We intend to harness the opportunities arising from this with renewed determination in 2022.

The publication of the preliminary figures for the 2021 fiscal year is planned for the week starting February 28, 2022. The outlook for the 2022 fiscal year will be further detailed as soon as possible.

EBIT before currency effects, free cash flow, dynamic leverage ratio and new business are not key figures in accordance with IFRS. Information on the derivation of these variables can be found in the 2020 Annual Report on pages 44, 50, 49 and 42. This information is available on the website at https://www.progress-werk.de/en/investors-press/news-publications/reports/annual-report-2020/.

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Executive Board

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