Belimo with pleasant operating income

BELIMO Holding AG / Belimo with pleasant operating income . Processed and transmitted by Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The Belimo Group increased its sales in the first half-year 2015 by 3.1 percent on a currency-adjusted basis to CHF 242.6 million. In Swiss francs, that equated to a decline of 0.6 percent.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the first half-year amounted to CHF 35.8 million, which equates to an operating margin of 14.7 percent (comparison period 2014 17.2 percent). The depreciation of the new building in the United States affects the EBIT as from the current financial year. As expected, the appreciation of the Swiss franc had a material impact on Belimo's sales and profitability. The company was nevertheless able to achieve a satisfactory operating result thanks to efficiency gains.

The financial result of CHF -7.8 million mainly consists of losses from the valuation of foreign currency balance sheet items and considerably reduced net income to CHF 23.0 million (comparison period 2014 CHF 33.6 million).

Europe. Sales in the Europe market region were down 1.9 percent on a currency-adjusted basis (11.3 percent in Swiss francs). The strength of the Swiss franc had a significant impact on sales and made price concessions necessary. Belimo managed to perform convincingly in France, Poland and the United Kingdom, achieving double-digit growth rates. In France, Belimo won a number of major projects with zone applications, among them the "Le Nuovo" office building, which will be equipped with more than 2600 6-way valves. In Russia, Germany and the Czech Republic, however, performance remained below expectations. Russia and its neighboring countries suffered from the devaluation of the ruble and the resulting investment freeze.

Belimo was able to expand its market share in zone applications in particular. The new fire protection actuators and pressure-independent valves were very well received by the market.

Americas. Sales in the Americas market region grew by 13.9 percent, or 10.1 percent on a currency-adjusted basis. All the main regions significantly contributed to achieving successful growth. The United States achieved an above-average performance in the contracting business, with growth rates in double digits. Several major projects in the United States and Canada led to a high level of growth such as a complex of buildings in California, with floor space of more than 250'000 m².This project involves the installation of more than 20 000 actuators or control valves from Belimo. There was also encouraging growth in Latin America, especially in Mexico and Brazil, where the high growth achieved in earlier years was maintained.

Water applications performed outstandingly well thanks to the greater focus on OEM customers for the water product range and a number of major orders in the area of system engineering.

Asia/Pacific. Sales in the Asia/Pacific market region grew by 10.5 percent, or 7.5 percent on a currency-adjusted basis. Belimo achieved good growth contributions in Japan, China and Hong Kong. Growth in Japan was encouraging, not least thanks to a major project involving variable air volume actuators. In China, sales of water applications increased at a double-digit rate thanks to Belimo's ability to build on its market share with OEMs in air-conditioning units. Hong Kong convinced in retrofit and data center projects. In Malaysia, Belimo has been selected to fit out the "Sunway Pyramid" hotel complex.

Sales of air applications, especially of variable air volume and fire and smoke products, developed well. There was an encouraging increase, among water applications, in the sales of electronic pressure-independent valves and Belimo Energy Valves(TM).

Net sales by region

Net sales by application

Outlook. The large number of orders placed suggests higher sales in Europe in the second half-year. However, both the Euro exchange rate and the performance of Russia's economy are major causes of uncertainty. In the Americas the building industry in the main market United States should further develop positively in the second half-year. Investments by institutions are projected to slowly start increasing again. In the Asia/Pacific market region, we expect among others further growth in China and India. As a consequence of the trend towards urbanization, digitization and energy efficiency, the building automation sector is going to become more important. This is a development from which Belimo, with its great innovative capacity and its customer focus, should be able to benefit.

Despite the negative influence of exchange rates on the result, we still aim to continue our successful growth strategy.

Belimo Group key figures

The Belimo Group is a leading global manufacturer of innovative electrical actuator solutions and valve systems for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. The Group generated sales of CHF 494 million in 2014 and employs close to 1450 people. Information about the company and its products is available on the Internet at www.belimo.com/investorrelations.

The shares of BELIMO Holding AG have been traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1995 (BEAN).

Link to the 2015 Semiannual Report (PDF)

The press release can be downloaded from the following link:

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BELIMO Holding AG
Brunnenbachstrasse 1 Hinwil Switzerland

ISIN: CH0001503199;