STRATEC POSTS SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH AND INCREASED PROFITABILITY IN FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2021

DGAP-News: STRATEC SE / Key word(s): Quarter Results/Forecast
11.11.2021 / 06:50
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

STRATEC POSTS SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH AND INCREASED PROFITABILITY IN FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2021

- Sales in 9M/2021 increase by 29.5% at constant-currency to € 225.4 million (9M/2020: € 179.1 million); nominal 25.9%
- Adjusted EBIT in 9M/2021 rises by 73.1% to € 48.7 million (9M/2020: € 28.1 million)
- Adjusted EBIT margin improves by 590 basis points to 21.6% (9M/2020: 15.7%)
- Further product launches in third quarter of 2021 and well-filled development pipeline
- Recently raised guidance for 2021 confirmed: Constant-currency sales growth of at least 16.0% and adjusted margin of around 19.0% to 20.0% expected

Birkenfeld, November 11, 2021

STRATEC SE, Birkenfeld, Germany, (Frankfurt: SBS; Prime Standard, SDAX) today announced its financial results and major events for the period from January 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 with the publication of its Quarterly Statement 9M|2021.

KEY FIGURES ¹

Adj. = adjusted
bp = basis points

¹ To facilitate comparison, adjusted figures exclude amortization resulting from acquisition-related purchase price allocations and an impairment recognized on a proprietary development project in the second quarter of 2021.
² Result from continuing operations.

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
The STRATEC Group set further new records for its sales and earnings in the first nine months of 2021. Overall, consolidated sales grew year-on-year on a constant-currency basis by 29.5% (nominal: +25.9%) to € 225.4 million in the first nine months of 2021 (9M/2020: € 179.1 million). The third quarter of 2021 (consolidated sales Q3/2021: +16.7% at constant-currency) once again benefited from consistently dynamic developments in demand in all three company segments (Instrumentation, Diatron, Smart Consumables). Due to high ongoing utilization rates at systems placed with end customers and the significant expansion in the system installation basis in the preceding quarters, growth in the Service Parts and Consumables business has recently shown a further acceleration. Growth with Systems, particularly in the field of molecular diagnostics and immunohematology, also remained high in the third quarter of 2021. Furthermore, new market launches also contributed to the company's growth.

Adjusted EBIT for the first nine months of 2021 rose by 73.1% to € 48.7 million, compared with € 28.1 million in the previous year. Accordingly, the adjusted EBIT margin improved by 590 basis points to 21.6% (9M/2020: 15.7%). The margin performance was positively influenced by benefits of scale, as well as by a strong sales and product mix and the implementation of efficiency enhancement measures. Moreover, the charges recognized for stock appreciation rights (SARs) were significantly lower than in the previous year.

Consistent with the improvement in operating profitability, adjusted consolidated net income for the first nine months of 2021 also increased, in this case from € 23.8 million in the previous year to € 40.6 million. Adjusted earnings per share (basic) for the first nine months of 2021 rose by 70.1% to € 3.35 € (9M/2020: € 1.97). Unadjusted earnings per share (basic) amounted to € 3.00, up from € 1.55 in the previous year.

To facilitate comparison, key earnings figures have been adjusted to exclude amortization resulting from acquisition-related purchase price allocations and an impairment recognized on a proprietary development project in the Diatron segment in the second quarter of 2021. A reconciliation of the adjusted figures with those reported in the consolidated income statement can be found in the Quarterly Statement 9M|2021 also published today.

FINANCIAL GUIDANCE
Based on the above-budget performance in the third quarter of 2021 and given current order volumes and updated risk adjustments, on October 28, 2021 STRATEC once again raised its financial guidance for the 2021 financial year as whole and published this by ad-hoc announcement. For the 2021 financial year, STRATEC currently expects constant-currency sales growth of at least 16.0%. For its adjusted EBIT margin, the company has forecast a figure of around 19.0% to 20.0%.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, STRATEC continues to observe increased volatility in its customers' order behavior. Global supply chains also remain tense and subject to uncertainties. The above guidance therefore specifically includes risk discounts for both sales and product mixes in the fourth quarter of 2021, as well as for potential further increases in logistics costs.

Following the completion in 2020 of the construction measures to convert and extend buildings at the Birkenfeld location, STRATEC expects its investment ratio to decrease in 2021. The company expects total investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets in 2021 to correspond to around 6.0% to 8.0% of sales (2020: 10.2%).

PROJECTS AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
STRATEC once again launched new products onto the market together with its partners in the first nine months of 2021, while pressing further ahead with numerous development and other projects. One example in the third quarter of 2021 involves the launch of a smart consumable for a fast-growing area of clinical diagnostics on behalf of a North American player. Moreover, STRATEC gained a further partner for its proprietary immunoassay platform KleeYa(R). Given its well-stocked development pipeline, STRATEC expects to see numerous major market launches in the months ahead as well. The launch of a new molecular diagnostics product family for one of the market leaders in this field is expected to take place in 2022.

STRATEC has always accorded great value to sustainable corporate governance and responsible resource handling. In August 2021, STRATEC joined the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. This move, which has once again underlined STRATEC's commitment to the ten universal principles of the UN Global Compact in the fields of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, represents a further step by the company towards incorporating sustainability considerations into its corporate strategy.

DEVELOPMENT IN PERSONNEL
Including personnel hired from a temporary employment agency and trainees, the STRATEC Group had 1,406 employees as of September 30, 2021 (previous year: 1,315). Compared with the previous year, this corresponds to a 6.9% expansion in the workforce, a development due among other factors to the significant increase in production capacity.

QUARTERLY STATEMENT 9M|2021
The Quarterly Statement 9M|2021 of STRATEC SE has been published on the company's website at www.stratec.com/financial_reports.

CONFERENCE CALL AND AUDIO WEBCAST
To mark the publication of the definitive results for the first nine months of 2021, STRATEC will be holding a conference call in English at 2.00 p.m. (CET) today, Thursday, November 11, 2021.

You will receive the dial-in data (telephone number, password + individual PIN) following brief registration at the following link: www.stratec.com/registration

The conference call will also be available at the same time as an audio webcast at http://www.stratec.com/audiowebcast20211111 (brief registration required). Please note that no questions can be submitted via the audio webcast. Clicking this link also enables you to follow or download the slide presentation.

ABOUT STRATEC
STRATEC SE (www.stratec.com) designs and manufactures fully automated analyzer systems for its partners in the fields of clinical diagnostics and life sciences. Furthermore, the company offers complex consumables for diagnostic and medical applications. For its analyzer systems and consumables, STRATEC covers the entire value chain - from development to design and production through to quality assurance.

The partners market the systems, software, and consumables, in general together with their own reagents, as system solutions to laboratories, blood banks, and research institutes around the world. STRATEC develops its products on the basis of patented technologies.

Shares in the company (ISIN: DE000STRA555) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and are listed in the SDAX select index of the German Stock Exchange.

FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FROM:
STRATEC SE
Jan Keppeler | Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 7082 7916-6515
ir@stratec.com
www.stratec.com

11.11.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de