EANS-News: Strabag SE builds 2020 on records of the past year - ATTACHMENT

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* After output volume and order backlog earnings on record level
* EBIT +8 % to € 603 million, EBIT margin at 3.8 %
* Outlook 2020: Output volume approx. € 14.4 billion, EBIT margin of at least
3.5 %

Annual Reports/Annual Result

Vienna - The publicly listed construction group STRABAG SE had another record
year in 2019: Not only were output volume and order backlog again at the highest
level in the Group's history - as has already been reported -, but also earnings
before interest and taxes (EBIT) and net income after minorities. However,
against the background of the coronavirus crisis and as already published last
week, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of STRABAG SE will propose
a reduced and conditioned dividend of EUR 0.90 to the Annual General Meeting.

Thomas Birtel, CEO of STRABAG SE: "The significant short-term effects of the
coronavirus crisis on our business should be behind us. But many industries,
such as tourism or stationary trade, have been severely affected. Therefore, we
must now assess the medium-term effects and also pay attention to our
productivity. We must expect a decline in demand from the private sector, but
this could be offset to a certain extent by public economic stimulus".

Output volume, Revenue and Order backlog

The STRABAG SE Group generated a record output for the third year in a row in
the 2019 financial year. With a plus of 2 % to EUR 16.6 billion, the company
exceeded its own forecast. The consolidated group revenue amounted to EUR 15.7
billion. As with the output volume, this corresponds to a slight plus (3 %). The
operating segments North + West contributed 48 %, South + East 31 % and
International + Special Divisions 21 % to the revenue. The order backlog as at
31 December 2019 grew by 3 % year-on-year to reach another record level of EUR
17.4 billion.

Financial performance

In 2019, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) increased by 17 % to EUR 1,113.30 million, topping the EUR 1.0 billion
mark for the first time. The EBITDA margin grew from 6.3 % to 7.1 %. What must
be taken into account here, however, is that the first-time application of IFRS
16 Leases means that rental expenses recognised in EBITDA in previous years are
now shown as depreciation and interest. If comparison is made with the EBITDA
adjusted for a non-operating step-up profit in the previous year, the increase
amounts to 24 %.

The depreciation and amortisation expense grew by 29 %. One of the reasons for
this development is the first-time application of IFRS 16 Leases, according to
which right-of-use assets from leases are to be measured less depreciation and
the corresponding lease expenses can no longer be recognised under the item
"Other operating expenses".

The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 8 % to EUR 602.58
million, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 3.8 % after 3.7 % in 2018.
Adjusted for the previous year's non-operating step-up profit, the EBIT grew by
20 %. The improvement is attributable to the North + West segment, where the
earnings nearly doubled.

At EUR -25.34 million, the net interest income was comparable to that of the
previous year. Although an - in contrast to the previous year - negative
exchange rate result of EUR -5.93 million was achieved with regard to the
exchange rate differences, the interest expense was reduced as well due to the
repayment of a bond in the previous year.

The income tax rate stood at 34.4 %, slightly higher than in the previous year
(2018: 31.7 %). The earnings owed to minority shareholders amounted to EUR 6.86
million after EUR 9.25 million in the previous year. The net income after
minorities for 2019 stood at EUR 371.70 million - an increase of 5 %. The
earnings per share amounted to EUR 3.62 (2018: EUR 3.45).

Financial position and cash flows

The total assets and liabilities increased to EUR 12.3 billion compared to EUR
11.6 billion on 31 December 2018, in part due to the first-time application of
IFRS 16 Leases. Despite this increase of the balance sheet total, the equity
ratio remained nearly unchanged at 31.5 % (2018: 31.6 %). As usual, a net cash
position was reported on 31 December 2019. This figure fell slightly in the face
of the marginally higher financial liabilities from EUR 1.2 billion to EUR 1.1
billion.

The cash flow from operating activities improved from EUR 788.98 million to EUR
1,075.94 million as a result of a higher cash flow from earnings and a further,
even higher reduction of the working capital. The expectation of a significant
reduction in advance payments in 2019 and a concomitant increase in working
capital to familiar levels thus did not materialise.

The cash flow from investing activities was less negative, largely due to the
smaller changes in the scope of consolidation. The cash flow from financing
activities stood at EUR -411.62 million after EUR -534.17 million in the
previous year. This decrease is due to the lower volume of a bond repayment and
the fact that the 2018 figure had been affected by a cash outflow related to the
acquisition of the minority shares of the now-delisted German subsidiary STRABAG
AG.

Outlook

A reliable estimate of the impact of the coronavirus crisis on earnings is still
not possible. But from today's perspective, the Executive Board anticipates a 10
% decline in output volume compared with the previous forecast of more than EUR
16.0 billion, i.e. around EUR 14.4 billion. It can be assumed that in line with
the projected decrease in output volume, EBIT should also be at a lower level.
At the same time, it should still be possible to achieve an EBIT margin of at
least 3.5 %.

Further inquiry note:
STRABAG SE
Diana Neumüller-Klein
Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Tel: +43 1 22422-1116
[email protected]

end of announcement euro adhoc
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Attachments with Announcement:
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http://resources.euroadhoc.com/documents/2246/5/10465931/1/STRABAG_SE_Pressemitteilung_FY2019_April2020_e.pdf

issuer: STRABAG SE
Donau-City-Straße 9
A-1220 Wien
phone: +43 1 22422 -0
FAX: +43 1 22422 - 1177
mail: [email protected]
WWW: www.strabag.com
ISIN: AT000000STR1, AT0000A05HY9
indexes: SATX, ATX, WBI
stockmarkets: Wien
language: English

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