DGAP-News: STRATEC REPORTS PRELIMINARY FIGURES FOR Q1 2020, RAISES GUIDANCE FOR SALES GROWTH, AND SELLS DATA SOLUTIONS BUSINESS UNIT

STRATEC REPORTS PRELIMINARY FIGURES FOR Q1 2020, RAISES GUIDANCE FOR SALES GROWTH, AND SELLS DATA SOLUTIONS BUSINESS UNIT

- Sales in Q1|2020 (preliminary) rise year-on-year by 21.2% to € 56.5 million (Q1|2019: €46.6 million)

- Adjusted EBIT margin in Q1|2020 (preliminary) at around 13.6% (Q1|2019: 10.7%)

- Sale of Data Solutions business unit to Total Specific Solutions

- Increase in 2020 sales growth guidance

Birkenfeld, May 4, 2020

STRATEC SE, Birkenfeld, Germany (Frankfurt: SBS; Prime Standard, SDAX), today released an ad-hoc announcement in which it adjusted its financial guidance and communicated its preliminary figures for the first quarter of 2020. Furthermore, the company sold its Data Solution business on May 4, 2020.

PRELIMINARY FIGURES FOR FIRST QUARTER OF 2020

Based on preliminary figures, STRATEC expects to report sales of € 56.5 million for the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2019: € 46.6 million). This corresponds to year-on-year growth of 21.2%. This dynamic growth in sales was driven by strong developments in all segments. In particular, sales with systems, as well as with service parts and consumables, showed a better than expected performance within the segments. By contrast, the COVID-19 pandemic only had a slight positive impact on the first-quarter sales performance.

The adjusted EBIT margin for the first quarter of 2020 should amount to around 13.6% and thus significantly exceed the previous year's figure of 10.7%. The development in the margin was positively influenced in particular by benefits of scale.

When assessing the above figures, it should be noted that on May 4, 2020 STRATEC signed a contract with Total Specific Solutions (TSS) B.V., a subsidiary of the CSI Group, concerning the sale of its Data Solutions business unit, which comprises the middleware laboratory software business. In the figures for the first quarter of 2020 and the previous year, the Data Solutions business unit has for comparability reasons already been treated as a discontinued operation. The transaction will lead to a negative (non-cash) measurement item of around € 3 million in the first quarter. This will be reported under earnings from discontinued operations.

To facilitate comparison, key earnings figures have been adjusted to exclude amortization resulting from purchase price allocations in the context of acquisitions, associated restructuring expenses, and other non-recurring items.

SALE OF DATA SOLUTIONS BUSINESS UNIT

On May 4, 2020 STRATEC signed a contract with Total Specific Solutions (TSS) B.V., a subsidiary of the CSI Group, concerning the sale of its Data Solutions business unit, which comprises the middleware laboratory software business. The sale was motivated by STRATEC's intention to focus further on its core business fields of Instrumentation, Diatron, and Smart Consumables.

"We aim to focus even more closely in future on our core competencies, namely designing and manufacturing automation solutions for OEM customers in the in-vitro diagnostics industry. Not only that, growth potential in the market for middleware laboratory software has in recent years partly left the OEM business and moved to the end customer. STRATEC intends to avoid any competition arising with its partners in future as well. This being so, we are convinced that the growth potential harbored by the Data Solutions business unit can be better addressed outside the STRATEC Group", comments Marcus Wolfinger, CEO of STRATEC SE.

For financial year 2020, the most recent budgets for the Data Solutions business unit foresaw sales of around € 8 million and slightly positive adjusted EBIT. The parties to the sale have agreed to maintain confidentiality concerning the sale price. The Data Solutions business unit is to be deconsolidated as of May 1, 2020.

ADJUSTMENT TO FINANCIAL GUIDANCE

Given the company's strong performance in the first four months of the year, the board of management has decided to raise the sales growth guidance for financial year 2020. Based on adjustments made to the previous year's figures to account for the disposal of the Data Solutions business unit (2019 sales basis: € 214.2 million), STRATEC now expects to generate constant-currency organic sales growth in a low double-digit percentage range in financial year 2020 (previously: "high single-digit percentage range"). A figure of around 15% is still forecast for the adjusted EBIT margin.

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, STRATEC is currently observing significantly positive and slightly negative effects in terms of customer orders and order forecasts. Overall, the company currently expects to see a notably positive impact on demand in the current financial year. All in all, the implications of the pandemic, such as those referred to above and also any potential interruptions within the supply chain, are still not fully visible. Apart from those effects that had already materialized by the end of April 2020, the above guidance therefore does not account for the effects of the pandemic.

QUARTERLY STATEMENT Q1|2020

STRATEC will publish its complete figures for the first quarter on May 14, 2020 and will hold a conference call (in English) on the same day.

ABOUT STRATEC

STRATEC SE (www.stratec.com) designs and manufactures fully automated analyzer systems for its partners in the fields of clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. Furthermore, the company offers complex consumables for diagnostic and medical applications. STRATEC covers the entire value chain - from development to design and production through to quality assurance.

The partners market the systems, software and consumables, in general together with their own reagents, as system solutions to laboratories, blood banks and research institutes around the world. STRATEC develops its products on the basis of its own patented technologies.

Shares in the company (ISIN: DE000STRA555) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and are listed in the SDAX select index of the German Stock Exchange.

FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FROM:

STRATEC SE

Jan Keppeler | Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Tel: +49 7082 7916-6515

Fax: +49 7082 7916-9190
[email protected]
www.stratec.com