Press release
Rational AG records second highest quarterly sales revenues in the company’s history in first quarter of 2022

- New orders again at record high – around 300 million euros of new orders taken in the first quarter of 2022

- Further rise in orders on hand since the end of the year

- Sales revenues up 34 percent on previous year in the first quarter of 2022

- 21 percent EBIT margin in the first quarter of 2022

Landsberg am Lech, 11 May 2022      “Strong demand continues unabated in the first quarter of 2022. At around 300 million euros, we even achieved another new order record. This represents year-on-year growth of 70 percent”, explains Jörg Walter, CFO of Rational AG. The company has identified catch-up effects, government support programmes, long delivery times and the announcement of price increases as reasons for the high order levels in recent months.

Sales revenues of 225 million euros in the first quarter of 2022 – second best quarterly sales revenue figure in Rational’s history
Sales revenues of 225.3 million euros (2021: 167.7 million euros) made the first quarter of 2022 the second best in the company’s history. The only time Rational’s sales revenues were higher was in the last pre-crisis quarter (Q4 2019). “Our year-on-year growth of 34 percent was significant. The reasons are, firstly, that in 2021, particularly in January and February, our business had still been affected by Covid-19 restrictions. Secondly, the supply situation of critical processors (CPUs) eased considerably in the first quarter due to increased deliveries from our primary supplier as well as initial deliveries from our secondary supplier”, says CEO Dr Peter Stadelmann. The resulting rise in production volumes led to the positive sales revenue performance, continues Stadelmann. Germany was the regional frontrunner in terms of sales revenues, recording a rise of 70 percent, followed by Europe (+43 percent), Latin America (+41 percent) and North America (+26 percent). Asia was at the previous year’s level; here the first quarter of 2021 had already exceeded the comparative 2019 figure. Changes in exchange rates also boosted sales revenue growth by around three percentage points.

iCombi and iVario – the new standards in cooking technology
Both product groups performed equally successfully. In the iCombi product group, sales revenues were up 30 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2022, at 195.1 million euros (2021: 149.9 million euros). In the iVario product group, sales revenues rose by 69 percent to a new record level of 30.1 million euros (2021: 17.8 million euros).

54.5 percent gross margin in the first quarter of 2022
Cost of sales increased faster than sales revenues in the first three months, up 39 percent to 102.5 million euros (2021: 73.8 million euros). As a result, the gross margin contracted to 54.5 percent in this period (2021: 56 percent). “We are seeing increases in the costs of commodities, primary products and logistics across the board, and this is reflected in our gross margin. The price increases we have announced help counteract the rising costs. But for as long as the price increases are not fully effective, the gross margin may nevertheless be below the usual good level”, says CFO Walter in his analysis of the numbers.

21.2 percent EBIT margin after three months
EBIT (earnings before financial result and taxes) in the first three months of the current fiscal year was 47.8 million euros, up by around half compared with the same period of 2021 (2021: 32.2 million euros). The EBIT margin was 21.2 percent (2021: 19.2 percent). According to Rational, this year’s EBIT margin in the first three months benefited from the very healthy sales revenue performance in combination with cost levels that increased more slowly than sales revenues.

While sales revenues rose by 34 percent year-on-year, operating costs were only 20 percent up on the prior-year level. Total operating costs amounted to 76.3 million euros in the first quarter of 2022 (2021: 63.6 million euros).

Adjusted for currency effects, the EBIT margin after three months of 2022 was 19.7 percent.

Employees
As a company with a long-term focus, Rational continued to invest in the first quarter of 2022 in maintaining and expanding its employees. Employees joined the company, especially in sales and product development, in order to be close to our customers and develop products and services tailored to their customers. The company believes that this is a way to sustainably secure its market and technology leadership. At the end of March 2022, the Rational Group employed 2,304 people worldwide. Of this total, 1,319 were employed in Germany.

Outlook
Thanks to strong sales revenue growth in the first quarter, Rational confirms the outlook for full-year 2022. “Our prospects generally look promising. Orders on hand are very high and our customers are satisfied with our products. On the other hand, we see the supply situation worsening again significantly”, reports Stadelmann.

Up to now, the company has always been able to keep the effects of these bottlenecks to a minimum. “We will only be able to fully assess the further consequences of the Ukraine crisis and the new lockdowns in China in the course of the year.”, adds Stadelmann. For 2022, the company nevertheless still anticipates sales revenue growth of 10 to 15 percent compared with the previous year and an EBIT margin slightly up on the previous year. If the risks referred to materialise to a greater extent than has so far become apparent in the first four months, Rational expects sales revenues to increase more slowly and the EBIT margin to come in below the level recorded in the previous year.

Contact:
Rational Aktiengesellschaft
Stefan Arnold / Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +49 (0)8191 327-2209
Fax +49 (0)8191 327-72 2209
E-mail: ir@rational-online.com
www.rational-online.com

Editorial note:
The Rational Group is the global market and technology leader for thermal preparation of food in professional kitchens. Founded in 1973, the company employs around 2,300 people, over 1,300 of whom are in Germany. Rational was floated in the Prime Standard of the German stock market in 2000 and is currently represented in the MDAX.

The company’s principal objective is to offer maximum customer benefit at all times. Rational is committed to the principle of sustainability, which is expressed in its corporate policies on environmental protection, leadership, job security and social responsibility. Numerous international awards bear witness to the high quality of the work done by Rational’s employees year for year.