- Shareholders approve all agenda items
- Satisfactory course of business in the first five months of 2018
Gelsenkirchen, 26 June 2018 - At today's Annual Meeting in Gelsenkirchen, the Management Board and Supervisory Board of Masterflex SE received clear shareholder support for their strategy and for the alignment of the company. In particular, the transformation process which the company has begun to undergo in the course of the extension of its strategy with regard to digitization and operational excellence was explained in detail. All agenda items which were placed up to a vote were approved by a large majority.
In light of the company's successful Financial Year 2017, the shareholders approved the joint recommendation from the Management and Supervisory Boards with regard to the appropriation of earnings by a large majority. Accordingly, the shareholders voted to raise the dividend from EUR 0.05 to EUR 0.07 per share, to be paid out on 29 June 2018. The remaining balance sheet profit of EUR 9,009,458.06 will be carried forward to new account and will therefore be retained by the company to support the continued growth course.
Masterflex Group was able to continue this sustained growth in the first five months of 2018. Despite the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates and revenue shifts as a result of holidays, the 1st Quarter was characterized by stable revenues and earnings, which were at a level unchanged from the strong figures posted last year. Dr. Andreas Bastin, CEO of Masterflex SE, stated as follows: "Growth rates have been consistent with our forecasts. Over the first five months of the year, we were able to increase revenues by 2.4% which means that revenue growth was 5.7% in the months of April and May - and we expect strong revenues in June as well. Our expectations with regard to margin growth this year are somewhat more conservative in view of the wide range of challenges and the situation on the commodities markets."
For the full year of 2018, Masterflex Group expects its EBIT margin to be at least as high as last year's margin of 9.5%. Revenue growth in 2018 is expected to be between 4 and 8%. In absolute figures, this means that Masterflex wants to achieve revenues in the range of EUR 78 to EUR 81 million.
Note: The voting results at Masterflex SE's 2018 Annual General Meeting will be available for download from 27 June 2018 at the Investor Relations section of www.masterflexgroup.com.