1st Quarter Revenue of the RHI Group, at € 424.1 million in the first quarter of 2015, exceeded the revenue of the comparative period of 2014, at € 402.3 million, but fell short of the fourth quarter of 2014, at € 466.5 million. The increase in revenue compared with the first quarter of 2014 is primarily attributable to improvements in the product mix and positive currency effects.
The operating EBIT amounted to € 34.5 million in the first quarter of 2015, versus € 34.1 million in the comparative period of 2014, but was lower than in the fourth quarter of 2014, at € 41.8 million. While the Steel and Industrial Division significantly increased their contribution to earnings compared with the first quarter of 2014, the Raw Materials Division recorded a considerable decline due to poor utilization of the raw material plants. The operating EBIT margin, at 8.1% in the first quarter of 2015, was lower than in the comparative period of 2014, at 8.5%, and lower than in the fourth quarter of 2014, at 9.0%.
Equity amounted to € 547.6 million at March 31, 2015, versus € 493.9 million at March 31, 2014. The equity ratio rose from 26.5% at the end of the financial year 2014 to 28.4% at March 31, 2015. Cash and cash equivalents declined from € 151.1 million to € 109.7 million in comparison with December 31, 2014 due to the repayment of non-current financial liabilities. Net debt declined slightly from € 466.9 million to € 462.2 million. The gearing ratio, defined as net financial liabilities divided by equity, fell from 94.5% to 84.4%.
Working Capital, which consists of inventories and trade receivables less trade payables and prepayments received, rose by € 48.8 million compared with the end of the year 2014 and amounted to € 619.7 million at March 31, 2015. This corresponds to 35.6% of the revenue of the past twelve months. While trade accounts receivable and trade accounts payable remained largely constant, inventories increased significantly. This is primarily due to exchange rate effects and higher inventories in North America as demand was weaker than expected.
Net cash flow from operating activities is characterized by an increase in working capital and amounted to € 21.8 million in the past quarter. Net cash flow from investing activities amounted to € (9.4) million. Consequently, free cash flow totaled € 12.4 million in the first quarter of 2015.
The number of employees rose slightly from 8,016 at the end of the year 2014 to 8,079.
Outlook Provided that the macroeconomic environment and exchange rates remain stable, the Management Board of the RHI Group expects an increase in revenue by roughly 3% compared with the previous year and an operating EBIT margin of approximately 9% for the full year 2015.
Due to the current order situation of the Industrial Division, a significant increase in revenue is expected for the second quarter of 2015.
| in € million | Q1/2015 | Q1/2014 | Delta | Q4/2014 | Delta | |
| Revenue | 424.1 | 402.3 | 5.4% | 466.5 | (9.1)% | |
| EBITDA | 51.2 | 50.0 | 2.4% | 51.8 | (1.2)% | |
| EBITDA margin | 12.1% | 12.4% | (0.3)pp | 11.1% | 1.0pp | |
| Operating EBIT 1) | 34.5 | 34.1 | 1.2% | 41.8 | (17.5)% | |
| Operating EBIT margin | 8.1% | 8.5% | (0.4)pp | 9.0% | (0.9)pp | |
| EBIT | 34.5 | 33.6 | 2.7% | 11.9 | 189.9% | |
| EBIT margin | 8.1% | 8.4% | (0.3)pp | 2.6% | 5.5pp | |
| Profit before income taxes | 29.9 | 28.8 | 3.8% | 4.1 | 629.3% | |
| Profit from continuing operations | 21.1 | 19.8 | 6.6% | 0.9 | 2,24% |
1) EBIT before impairment and restructuring expenses and result from Chapter 11