Press Release

SURTECO continues with stable business

- Consolidated sales increase after nine months by 3 % to EUR 483.9 million

- EBITDA with EUR 49.8 million below year-earlier value due to costs for the relocation of decorative printing activities

- Free cash flow significantly improved to EUR 37.8 million

- Outlook for the year 2015 confirmed: modest sales growth and significant improvement of pre-tax profit

Buttenwiesen-Pfaffenhofen, 13 November 2015 - The SURTECO Group - one of the world's leading manufacturers of decorative surface materials - posted sound sales growth of 3 % at EUR 483.9 million after nine months of the business year 2015 (nine months 2014: EUR 470.1 million). Integration costs amounting to a total of EUR 9.7 million were incurred for the relocation of decorative printing activities to the Buttenwiesen site during the period under review. They were made up of costs for refurbishment and construction operations, as well as costs for the social compensation plan, and the overall expenses were significantly more than had originally been planned. The operating result (EBITDA) at EUR 49.8 million was therefore below the comparable value of EUR 57.2 million for the equivalent year-earlier period. The same also applies to the pre-tax result, which achieved a value of EUR 20.0 million (nine months 2014: EUR 27.5 million). SURTECO is confirming its forecast for the entire business year 2015 unchanged by re-stating its intention of achieving a slight increase in growth for sales compared with the previous year (2014: EUR 618.5 million). The projection for the pre-tax result (EBT) is also confirmed. EBT should therefore be significantly above the value of EUR 22.3 million posted for 2014. Earnings in the previous year were impacted negatively by a restructuring provision amounting to EUR 9.4 million during the fourth quarter.

"SURTECO has demonstrated robust growth in 2015 in accordance with expectations. Earnings have been impacted negatively by higher integration costs than originally planned for the relocation of our decorative printing activities and for cost of materials that continue unchanged at a high level. Nevertheless, the result for the business year 2015 will be significantly above the amount posted for the previous year. Since the concentration of our decorative printing activities in Germany is about to be concluded, we can see further potential for 2016, because there will be no one-off negative impacts and we will be able to achieve greater synergies after integration has been concluded." was how Chairman of the Board of Management of SURTECO SE, Dr. Herbert Müller, summarized the situation.

Sales growth is based on positive currency effects and on slight growth in local currency. Significant growth impetuses for business in North America were a particular highlight. While the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Plastics increased sales by 7 % to EUR 185.2 million, the SBU Paper posted sales at the level of the previous year with EUR 298.7 million. After tax, the consolidated net profit was EUR 14.2 million in the first nine months (nine months 2014: EUR 19.3 million) and EUR 0.91 calculated as earnings per share (nine months 2014: EUR 1.24).

High free cash flow - net financial debt significantly reduced

The balance sheet quality of the SURTECO Group continues to be robust. The equity ratio was 49.0 % (31 December 2014: 50.4 %). The free cash flow improved significantly from EUR 15.7 million to EUR 37.8 million and net financial debt therefore came down compared with year-end 2014 from EUR 145.8 million to EUR 129.0 million. The gearing (net financial debt/ equity) was reduced accordingly to 40 % (31 December 2014: 45 %).

Outlook for the business year 2015 confirmed: modest sales growth and significant improvement in pre-tax profit

Against this background, SURTECO confirms the last forecast for the business year 2015. Consolidated sales are therefore projected to be slightly above the level for the previous year of EUR 618.5 million. The Group is striving to achieve a value significantly above the amount of EUR 22.3 million actually posted in 2014 for the pre-tax profit.

You can find the Report for the first three quarters 2015 and other information about SURTECO SE on the Internet at www.surteco.com.

Important indicators of SURTECO SE
(in EUR million)

(1) Based on an number of shares amounting to 15,505,731

(2) Net debt / Equity

Profile of SURTECO
SURTECO SE, Buttenwiesen-Pfaffenhofen, is a leading international specialist for surface technologies. The product portfolio includes papers printed with decorative designs, impregnated products, release paers, decorative flat foils and edgebandings based on specialist papers for technical applications and plastics. The extensive product portfolio is completed by skirtings made of plastic, technical extrusions for industry and do-it-yourself ranges and shutter systems.
The Group currently has a workforce of appr. 2,700 and manufactures at 20 sites on four continents, currently generating approximately 28 % of sales in Germany, 44 % in European countries outside Germany and the remainder in America, Asia and Australia. Customers of SURTECO generally come from the wood based materials, flooring and furnishing industry and the interior industry.
The shares of SURTECO SE are listed on the official market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt and Munich Stock Exchanges under the ticker symbol SUR and ISIN DE0005176903. They are also traded on the stock markets in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart Hamburg and Hannover.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains statements of future forecasts or expectations and other forward-looking statements and involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. There is therefore no guarantee for the statements and expectations expressed herein. The actual results and developments may differ substantially. The company does not intend to - and assumes no obligation - to update any forward looking statements contained herein or to adapt such information to future results or developments.

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