Berlin, 30 April 2014 – The PSI Group attained 10 % lower sales of 40.1 million Euros (31 March 2013: 45.4 million Euros) in the first quarter of 2014. The EBIT in the first quarter was, at 2.1 million Euros, so that the EBIT margin improved from 4.6 % to 5.1 %. Due to the poorer financial result, the group net result was, at 1.2 million Euros, 26 % below the level of the previous year (31 March 2013: 1.6 million Euros). In the previous year, the financial result also included the profit from the sale of shares in the Moscow sales joint venture PSI Energo. The volume of new orders, which was marked by a number of major international orders in the previous years quarter, decreased to 56 million Euros (31 March 2013: 73 million Euros), the order book volume on 31 March 2014 was, at 129 million Euros, 11 % below the value for the previous year (31 March 2013: 145 million Euros).
Energy Management (gas, oil, electricity, heat) attained 3 % higher sales of 15.3 million Euros (31 March 2013: 14.9 million Euros) in the first quarter. The segment’s EBIT doubled compared to the previous year to 0.8 million Euros (31 March 2013: 0.4 million Euros). The electrical energy business was able to improve its result following increased product investment in the previous year, as could the energy trading business. The gas and oil business displayed fewer major international contracts, but overall could confirm the good developments of the previous years.
Sales in Production Management (raw materials, industry, logistics) were, at 18.9 million Euros in the first three months, 18 % below the figure for the previous year (31 March 2013: 23.0 million Euros). The EBIT decreased by 20 % to 1.0 million Euros (31 March 2013: 1.2 million Euros). The metals industry and automotive businesses had shifts of licensing orders to the second quarter; logistics received important acceptances for the new transportation management software. In the metals industry, the business has increasingly shifted from the Russian to the North American market.
In Infrastructure Management (transportation and security), sales decreased as a reduction of the systems business by 12 % to 6.6 million Euros (31 March 2013: 7.5 million Euros). The segment’s EBIT dropped to 0.6 million Euros (31 March 2013: 0.8 million Euros). Business in Poland developed especially well, while the sales in Southeast Asia decreased as a result of the drop in the systems business.
The number of employees in the group increased to 1,704 as of 31 March 2014 due to the expansion of capacity in the export markets (31 March 2013: 1,622). Cash flow from operating activities, which at –0.1 million Euros had been negative at the end of 2013, recovered to 4.2 million Euros and was therefore significantly above the figure for the last year (31 March 2013: 3.4 million Euros). Liquidity decreased to 24.4 million Euros (31 March 2013: 36.1 million Euros).
PSI expects important decisions to be made in the coming quarters about license contracts as well as follow-up orders in the fields of automotive and logistics. The PSI solution for smart distribution grids has passed the IT security acceptance test at the beginning of the year. PSI is now well positioned to profit from increasing investments in the gas and power distribution grids prior to the “photo years” 2015 and 2016. Overall, management is holding to its annual goal of 12 million Euros for the EBIT formulated in the 2013 Annual Report.
On the basis of its own software products, PSI AG develops and integrates complete solutions for energy management (gas, oil, electricity, heat, energy trading), production management (mining, metals, automotive, mechanical engineering, logistics) and infrastructure management for transport and safety. PSI was founded in 1969 and employs 1,700 persons worldwide.
