May 18, 2011. /Lesprom Network/. HOMAG Group AG got off to a good start in fiscal 2011 and registered strong demand for its products in the 1Q. The global leader for plant and machinery for the woodworking industry and cabinet shops, which is listed on the SDAX, thus saw its order intake climb 13% to Euro 187.8 million compared to the prior-year quarter (Euro 165.6 million), as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. As a result, order backlog climbed 9% to Euro 218.5 million as of March 31, 2011 (prior year: Euro 200.5 million), and indeed exceeded the level as of year-end 2010 by 46% (Euro 149.3 million). The low order backlog at that time resulted from the high number of deliveries in the 4Q 2010 and, according to the management board, is also the reason for the moderate revenue growth of 6 percent in the first three months of 2011 to Euro 175.6 million as had been expected (prior year: Euro 165.0 million). CEO Rolf Knoll is satisfied with the start to the year and believes the HOMAG Group is still firmly on track, also in light of the successful fiscal 2010. “In the 1Q, we were able to tap the opportunities afforded by the market and further strengthen our leading position. Customers trust our outstanding system and plant competence as is demonstrated by a series of orders in the project business.” Before the result from employee participation EBITDA rose in the first three months of 2011 to Euro 14.2 million, EBIT to Euro 6.9 million and EBT to Euro 4.5 million. The net profit for the period after non-controlling interests came to Euro 1.5 million (prior year: Euro 1.2 million). In the second and third quarters of 2011, the HOMAG Group’s management board anticipates sales revenue to rise compared to the first three months of the year based on the speed at which the order backlog rose again at the end of March. The results of operations are likewise expected to improve further in the current quarter despite an extraordinary burden on earnings from the project to restructure the subsidiary BÜTFERING and the cost of participating in the Ligna trade fair. Rolf Knoll looks forward to the industry’s leading trade fair with optimism, even though he anticipates that there might be some spending reluctance in the run up to it: “We are again able present to our customers numerous product innovations and enhancements and expect positive impulses, especially in European markets, which should be reflected in a healthy post-trade-fair business, especially in the second half of 2011.” After closing the first quarter, the management board confirms all of the forecasts made to date for the full year 2011. Subject to the caveats that continue to apply as regards there being no major setbacks to global economic development, the Group aims to generate at least a mid-single-digit percentage increase in sales revenue and also generate moderate growth in order intake compared to 2010. It also intends to significantly increase its net profit and operating result (EBITDA before employee participation) slightly more than the targeted sales revenue growth. Moreover, the management board has reiterated the objective it had already announced in the past for the HOMAG Group to gradually approach its pre-crisis figures. “From a current perspective, we believe it is possible to achieve this objective from 2013 onwards,” says CEO Knoll.