Press Release  

WashTec AG preliminary figures: 
 

• Revenue of €436.5m stable at prior year's level (prior year: €435.4m)
• Strongest fourth quarter in the company's history
• Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) before extraordinary expenses €38.2m; EBIT after extraordinary expenses €36.3m (prior year: €51.5m)
• Year-end order backlog above prior year

Augsburg, February 6, 2020: The WashTec Group - the leading provider of innovative carwash solutions worldwide - successfully concluded fiscal year 2019 with revenue of €436.5m on preliminary figures (prior year: €435.4m). This represents stable revenue performance with a slight increase of 0.2% or €1.1m over the year as a whole. The final quarter, with revenue of €127.4m (prior year: €122.7m), is the highest-revenue quarter in the company's history. Preliminary EBIT - before €1.9m in extraordinary expenses from the performance program - was €38.2m. That corresponds to an adjusted EBIT margin of 8.8%. Preliminary EBIT after extraordinary expenses came to €36.3m (prior year: €51.5m).

After a moderate start to fiscal year 2019, the volume of business increased as expected - mostly in the second half of the year. Despite double-digit growth in the direct sales business in 2019 as a whole, the company was not able to outweigh the shortfall in business with major customers due to postponed orders. The service and chemicals business also developed positively.

The number of employees was 1,874 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019 - 14 fewer than at the end of the third quarter of 2019 (1,888 employees). The announced continuous reduction in the workforce to around 1,820 employees by December 31, 2020 will be implemented in a socially responsible manner and distributed accordingly over the entire year. The associated costs are already included as extraordinary expenses in the 2019 financial statements.

Net financial debt (current and non-current financial liabilities less cash and cash equivalents) was €56.4m as of December 31, 2019 (prior year: €10.1m). This includes approximately €19.0m in accounting effects due to the transition to IFRS 16. The record fourth-quarter revenue additionally resulted in a correspondingly large increase in trade receivables as of December 31, 2019 (by approx. €15m compared to the prior year). This will return to normal in the first quarter of 2020. 

The Group order backlog at the end of 2019 was above the prior year.

Key preliminary group figures:
 

€ m, IFRS	2019	2018
Revenue	436.5	435.4
EBIT before one-off expenses from performance program	38.2	-
EBIT after one-off expenses from performance program	36.3	51.5
Net financial debt	56.4	10.1

The complete consolidated financial statements containing the final figures for fiscal year 2019 and the guidance for the current fiscal year are scheduled for publication on March 18, 2020. The Annual General Meeting will take place on April 28, 2020. 

About WashTec: 
WashTec Group with its registered office in Augsburg, Germany, is the leading provider of innovative car wash solutions worldwide. The company has more than 1,800 employees and is represented with subsidiaries in the major markets of Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific. Moreover, WashTec has an extensive network of independent marketing partners through which it is present in around 80 countries worldwide.


Contact:

WashTec AG
Investor Relations
Argonstrasse 7
86153 Augsburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)821 - 55 84 - 0
E-mail: