2018 financial statements: another substantial jump in the Sedus Stoll Group's revenue (FOTO)

Waldshut-Tiengen (ots) -

With an annual surplus of EUR9.8 million, 2018 - just like 2017 -
proved to be another successful year for the Sedus Stoll Group.

Revenue climbed by 11.1% to EUR212.3 million (2017: EUR191.2
million), surpassing the EUR200 million milestone by a large margin
for the first time in its history.

In parallel to a 2.2% overall increase in the total market volume
for office furniture (according to the German Interior Business
Association, IBA), the Sedus Stoll Group was able to increase its new
orders (excluding trade items) by 5.3%, translating to another
successive boost to the company's market position.

A closer look at different areas of the Sedus Stoll Group

The Sedus Seating product area (office seating, furniture for
communicating and contract furniture) reported a small increase in
total new orders of 0.5% to EUR100.5 million compared to the previous
year. Nevertheless, this was still 1.8 percentage points ahead of the
market trend for office seating (-1.3%).

In the Sedus Systems product area (office furniture, desks and
cabinet systems), the total order volume saw a significant increase
of 12.6% to EUR85.9 million, which is substantially higher than the
5.8% increase in total market volume.

The total value of new orders hit EUR85.1 million for the entire
export sector, and the increase of 7.6% was once again a significant
improvement on the previous year. The share of exports among the
total volume of new orders therefore amounted to 45.7% in the Sedus
subgroup, increasing by 0.8% as a result of the slightly lower
increase in orders from Germany.

At Klöber (office seating, conference and lounge furniture), the
negative trend in incoming orders was brought to an end and, with a
total volume of EUR20.5 million, Klöber achieved a slight increase of
1.5%, which stands in contrast to the prevailing market trend for
office seating (-1.3%). While the order volume in Germany was on a
par with the previous year, exports (share of total volume: 27.8%)
increased by 7.4%.

Investments in all areas

The Sedus Stoll Group's investments in tangible and intangible
assets totaled EUR15.8 million in the 2018 financial year, which
constituted a dramatic increase of EUR9.2 million compared to the
previous year.

The sum total of investments made by Sedus Stoll AG came to
EUR12.9 million. As in the previous year, the most substantial
investment of EUR8.0 million was attributable to the various
construction activities in relation to the expansion of the company
headquarters in Dogern, where staff were also able to start using the
new office building in April this year.

Around 100 employees from twelve different areas now work together
in a single space under one roof, in a generously proportioned
environment. Officially known as the Sedus Smart Office, this new
office space is not just an outstanding workplace for the company's
own employees, but is also a test laboratory and showpiece for
international customers who visit Dogern from all over the world.

A total of EUR1.9 million was invested by Sedus Systems GmbH,
located in Geseke (East Westphalia, Germany) in 2018. A large part of
these funds were invested in the construction of a new
multifunctional building, which will be ready for use at some point
in 2019.

The extensive modernization and construction work at the Dogern
and Geseke sites underscore the company management's commitment to
Germany as its center of business.

The Sedus Stoll Group's total number of employees has increased
from 873 to a total of 935 (excluding trainees), of whom 533
currently work in Dogern, 292 in Geseke, and 110 at Klöber in
Owingen.

A modest but promising trend observed in 2019 to date

The various political and economic events that subdued the economy
in the first quarter of 2019 and the more cautious economic forecasts
that followed also had some negative effects on the market for office
furniture.

Nevertheless, the new year got off to a very good start for Sedus,
meaning that the annual order targets for the year as a whole will
still be met.

The management team cites the numerous product innovations
presented by Sedus and Klöber at the Orgatec trade show last October
as the main impetus for this positive performance, most of which have
been in full-scale production since spring.

Contact:
Sparenberg PR
Joachim Sparenberg
Tel. +49 7741 8355003
E-Mail: sparenberg-pr@web.de

Original-Content von: Sedus Stoll AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell