“Knorr-Bremse looks back at a successful 2018 and we are pleased with the positive
development of both our businesses. Despite uncertain and volatile markets, the demand for
Knorr-Bremse rail and truck systems rose to new heights. We are particularly proud to have
won 26 projects for metro lines in China alone – evidence of the high regard our systems are
held in”, says Klaus Deller, CEO of Knorr-Bremse AG. “With organic growth as well as
strategic acquisitions in both divisions, we have paved the way for our active participation in the global megatrends urbanisation, eco-efficiency, digitization and automated driving. This positioning is also reflected in the price development of our share.” With the most recent acquisition by the CVS division of the steering business of Hitachi Automotive Systems, Knorr-Bremse took an important step towards becoming a global supplier of driver assistance and highly automated driving solutions.
Strong organic growth
Currency-adjusted, revenues 2018 grew by 10.5%. Reported full-year revenues increased
by 7.5% to 6,616 mEUR (2017: 6,154 mEUR). The Rail Vehicle Systems (RVS) segment
grew dynamically, by 6.2% yoy. The Commercial Vehicle Systems (CVS) segment grew
particularly strongly, by 9.3% yoy. Revenue growth across the two segments was almost
entirely organic. All regions contributed. The strong OE business was the main driver of this growth, which, together with the portfolio disposals, led to a reduced aftermarket share to 33.8% (PY: 35.3%) of total revenues.
Continued solid profitability
At Group level, Knorr-Bremse generated a reported EBITDA of 1,178 mEUR, an increase of
5.6% on 2017 (1,116 mEUR). This corresponds to a margin of 17.8%, slightly lower than
2017 and within the guidance corridor. Adjusted for the reimbursement of IPO costs by the
selling shareholder, EBITDA was 1,193 mEUR, corresponding to a margin of 18.0%. As per
IFRS, this was credited to the balance sheet rather than the P&L account.
Operationally, eliminating revenues (of 68 mEUR) and losses (of -11 mEUR) of rail
maintenance and simulator businesses, which were disposed in 2018, EBITDA amounted to
1,204 mEUR and a margin of 18.4%. These high profitability levels were achieved despite a
smaller Aftermarket share, higher material costs, and supply-chain constraints. The R&D ratio fell slightly to 5.5% (2017: 5.8%) due to the high sales growth, but again reached a high level compared to the competition.
Group EBIT for 2018 came to 972 mEUR, up 7.6% yoy (2017: 904 mEUR) and corresponding to a margin of 14.7%, level with last year. Adjusted EBIT margin reached 14.9%, operating EBIT margin 15.6%.
Order intake and book underscore medium-term outlook
With 7,001 mEUR and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.06, Knorr-Bremse’s order intake surpassed the 7 bnEUR mark for the first time in company history. Its order book reached a new high of 4.563 mEUR at the end of 2018, an increase of 9,2% against prior year (4,177 mEUR).
