S&T AG confirms 2018 profitability targets

Objectives for 2019 are revenues of some EUR 1.1 billion and EBITDA of at least EUR 100 million

Linz, 23.01.2019. S&T AG (www.snt.at) is well on track with the 2018 financial year: The company's preliminary figures confirm the goal achievement for profitability, that had been increased during the third quarter 2018 from at least EUR 80 million to at least EUR 88 million, as well as the communicated nearly EUR 1 billion in revenues planned for 2018.

The company plans to realize in financial year 2019 revenues of some EUR 1.1 billion, potential future acquisitions envisioned for the year could even lead to higher revenues. S&T has set for itself the profit objective (EBITDA) in the current financial year of at least EUR 100 million. Driver of the growth remains the high-margin “IoT Solutions” segment. Comprised in this segment are the business done in Europe, and, in the meantime also the majority of the business done in North America by the S&T Group. Impelling this growth has been the step-by-step expansion of the software and services capabilities grouped in the former “Embedded Systems” business segment.

Hannes Niederhauser, CEO of S&T AG, summarizes the company's achievements: “We set forth our winning streak in financial year 2018 and will once more reach our ambitious targets. 2018 was, in turn, once more a year of record results. We are approaching financial year 2019 with confidence and the prognosticated economic gloom for manufacturing has not yet manifested itself for the S&T Group. Our order backlog is strong, it comes to some EUR 592 million as of the end of the third quarter of 2018, and our project pipeline is well-filled, amounting to some EUR 1.5 billion. As these figures amply show, we are ready and able to operate successfully in 2019.“

On January 17, 2019, the Executive Board of S&T AG approved a buyback program for own shares ("Aktienrückkaufprogramm 2019") using the authorization granted by the extraordinary shareholder meeting on January 15, 2019. The maximum amount to acquire own shares is EUR 30 Mio. The shares will be purchased via the stock exchange. The repurchase was launched on January 22, 2019 and is to be concluded by July 22, 2019. Richard Neuwirth, CFO of S&T AG, comments: “We want to exploit the advantageous valuation of the S&T AG's stock through a buyback program. The ensuing funds can be, amongst others, devoted to future anorganic growth activities. Furthermore, S&T's target achievements in financial year 2018 is causing the Executive Board of S&T AG to propose to its Annual General Meeting in May 2019, a further, more than 20% increase in dividends, which are to rise from 2017's 13 cents per share to 2018's 16 cents per share.“

S&T AG's annual report on its financial year 2018 will be published on March 28, 2019.