Arbonia with significant increase in sales

According to Arbonia, the positive development was significantly influenced by the Looser Group companies acquired at the end of 2016 - Prüm, Garant and Invado - as well as the Koralle Group, which has been consolidated since October 2016. Organic growth, i.e. excluding the contributions from Looser and Koralle, was negative at -1.8 percent.

EBITDA increased from CHF 27.3 million in the previous year to CHF 44.6 million in the first half of the year; adjusted for special effects, it rose from CHF 23.3 million to CHF 45.9 million. EBIT rose from CHF 5.7 million to CHF 12.6 million (adjusted: from CHF 4.2 million to CHF 13.2 million).

With the continuing operations, Arbonia achieved an after-tax result of 5.4 million, or 6.2 million excluding special effects. In the previous year, a loss of -3.5 million (adjusted: -5.3 million) was incurred. The equity ratio increased from 47.9 percent at the end of 2016 to 49 percent.

Switzerland was previously Arbonia's most important market, but this changed following the takeover of the Looser companies: The company's largest market is now Germany, followed by Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Arbonia generated around 80 percent of all revenue in these core markets in the first half of 2017.

For 2017 as a whole, Arbonia - including the Condecta Group - expects net sales in the region of 1.3 billion and EBITDA of more than 110 million. The equity ratio should be around 50 percent at the end of 2017. If the Condecta Group is sold in the current financial year, net debt will be below 100 million.

In 2018, Arbonia aims to achieve net sales of around 1.4 billion and EBITDA of 150 million. The sale of the Condecta Group could reduce EBITDA by around 15 to 20 million. From 2019 at the latest, the company aims to generate a sustainably positive free cash flow and pay a dividend again.