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INDUS publishes unaudited and preliminary figures for financial year 2022

- Continuing operations with good performance
- Adjustment of accounting as consequence of PARKOUR perform strategy update
- One-time charge due to reclassification of three portfolio companies as discontinued operation

As of 1 January 2023, the INDUS Group reorganized itself into three segments – Engineering, Infrastructure and Materials – in accordance with the PARKOUR perform strategy updatepresented in December 2022. In the process, the Board of Management decided which businesses have good prospects and will therefore be continued under the INDUS umbrella. It was also decided to discontinue the former Automotive Technology segment. SCHÄFER and SELZER shall be sold in the current fiscal year. Against the background of this reorganization, the continuing and discontinued operations are therefore presented separately below. All information below is based on the Group’s preliminary, unaudited figures for 2022.

The continuing operations in the portfolio of INDUS Holding AG showed a good operating performance in 2022; the portfolio companies in these segments increased their sales by 10.4% to EUR 1.80 billion (previous year: EUR 1.63 billion). Operating income (EBIT) before impairment losses stood at EUR 176.5 million (previous year: EUR 168.1 million), with the corresponding EBIT margin at 9.8% (previous year: 10.3%). “Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the portfolio companies have shown a really strong performance,” says Dr. Johannes Schmidt, Chairman of the Board of Management of the INDUS Group.

EBIT after impairment losses amounts to EUR 133.7 million (previous year: EUR 165.6 million), with the corresponding EBIT margin at 7.4% (previous year: 10.1%). In the context of the strategy update, the board of Management decided to sell SCHÄFER and SELZER by the end of 2023. At the end of the financial year 2022, the P&L items of SMA as well as of SCHÄFER and SELZER were reclassified into discontinued operations. SMA was deconsolidated as the company filed for insolvency proceedings. As part of the reclassification, the assets assigned to the three portfolio companies also had to be revalued. In the financial year 2022, sales of the discontinued operations amounted to around EUR 110 million, while earnings after taxes of the discontinued operations stood at EUR -123.9 million. Earnings after taxes for the Group as a whole amounted to EUR -51.0 million (previous year: EUR 47.6 million).

“The reclassification of the three companies into discontinued operations is the logical consequence of the decision to discontinue the Automotive Technology companies that had been making losses for years,” says Dr. Johannes Schmidt. “This frees INDUS from high losses in the automotive sector and has allowed us to reflect the revaluation of the reclassified companies in the financial year 2022.”

It was possible to reduce working capital noticeably at the end of 2022, so that the operating cash flow (of the continuing operations) stood at EUR 137.1 million (previous year: EUR 177.7 million).

The Construction/Infrastructure, Engineering, and Metals Technology segments again showed a very gratifying performance for the year 2022 as a whole. Most of the portfolio companies in these three segments were able to increase their sales and operating income (EBIT) before impairment losses very strongly. In the Medical Engineering/Life Science segment, there was still only little scope for passing on costs, while regulatory expenses remained high. The Automotive Technology segment (excluding the discontinued operations) was adversely affected by a shortage of electronics, delays in the ramp-up of mass production and the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

INDUS invested approx. EUR 113.3 million in the portfolio in 2022. These consist of investments at the portfolio companies as well as the acquisitions of HEIBER + SCHRÖDER and the HELD Group – both to strengthen the new Engineering segment.

Net debt increased primarily due to the fact that working capital picked up in the full year 2022. At 2.3 years at the end of the year, the debt repayment period, i.e. the relation between net debt and EBITDA (of the continuing operations), was below the target range of 2.5 years. The equity ratio declined primarily because of the high non-cash value adjustments from the revaluation of the companies reclassified into discontinued operations and the impairment losses resulting from the scheduled impairment tests and stood at 36.3%, which is below the 40% target.

“The repositioning now completed makes us optimistic for the year 2023,” says Dr. Johannes Schmidt. “Going forward, we will focus our portfolio on highly specialized industrial technology in attractive market niches. This is reflected in the continuing operations. We can now take off from this strong basis.”

The full financial statements for the financial year 2022 including the forecast for the financial year 2023 will be published on the company’s website on 23 March 2023. For the 2023 financial calendar, visit www.indus.de.

Axel Meyer

COO Engineering
Axel Meyer (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since October 2017.

Until joining INDUS, he held various management positions at Schuler AG, most recently as Managing Director of Schuler Pressen and Head of the Service Division of the Schuler Group, Goeppingen, Germany.

Previously, Axel Meyer worked as a member of the Board of Management of the international management consultancy IMAGIN Prof. Bochmann AG, Eppstein im Taunus, Germany. He started his professional career in the Schuler Group's Solid Forming Division, initially in global sales and later as Division Manager.

Axel Meyer studied industrial engineering in Germany and the USA and earned a Master of Mergers & Acquisitions (LL.M.) at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management while working. 

Gudrun Degenhart

COO Materials Solutions
Gudrun Degenhart (German citizen, born 1970) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since October 2023.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the management and development of portfolio companies in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Before joining INDUS, Gudrun Degenhart was CEO for the German portfolio companies of the international service group ISS. She previously worked for the thyssenkrupp Group, including as CEO of the international business unit for special lifts and as CEO of Materials Western Europe and Asia-Pacific. She gained experience in medium-sized companies as a board member of the construction technology company Schöck.

A graduate in business administration, she began her career by building up the Central and Eastern European activities of the construction specialist Lindner Group. 

Dr. Jörn Großmann

COO Infrastructure
Dr. Jörn Großmann (German citizen, born 1968) has been a member of the INDUS Board of Management since January 2019.

Up until joining INDUS, he worked for the Dutch group Aalberts Industries, with his last position being the sole managing director of Impreglon, Lüneburg, Germany.

He previously held various positions at the Georgsmarienhütte Group, initially becoming managing director of Mannstaedt, Troisdorf, Germany and later managing director of GMH Edelstahl Service Center Burg and GMH Engineering. Before Dr. Großmann became the managing director of Buderus Feinguss, Moers, Germany, he worked as a development engineer and as a technical director for Doncasters Precision Castings, Bochum, Germany.

He studied material sciences and earned a doctorate in the field of natural sciences.

Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt

CEO
Dr. -Ing. Johannes Schmidt (German citizen, born 1961) has been a member of the Board of Management of INDUS since January 2006. He has assumed the position of CEO since July 2018.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt was previously the sole managing director of ebm-papst Landshut, Germany, a manufacturer of ventilation motors and fans. During his tenure there, his main achievements included advancing the development of new product platforms and the internationalization of production sites.

Dr. -Ing. Schmidt began his career at Richard Bergner, a manufacturer of electrical instruments from Schwabach, Germany. He initially led product development before rising to the position of managing director during his 12 years at the company.

Schmidt, who studied mathematics, gained an engineering doctorate in mechanics from the Technical University of Darmstadt. 

Rudolf Weichert

CFO
Rudolf Weichert (German citizen, born 1963) is the CFO of INDUS.

Before joining the INDUS Board of Management in June 2012, he was a Partner at KPMG for nine years. He spent three of these years in Detroit, Michigan, United States, where he worked mainly with companies in the engineering, and materials trading industries.

Mr. Weichert, who holds a masters degree in business administration, worked for KPMG for about 20 years, primarily in the firm’s Duesseldorf office, where he worked mainly with multinational manufacturing corporations.