Despite the heterogeneous environment Bertrandt was able to increase its total revenues and earnings in the first three quarters of fiscal 2017/2018. In parallel, the Group also set course for the future. In the field of application development, Bertrandt is now one of Microsoft's few “Gold Partners”. This cooperation will open up new markets and customer groups for the Company. Bertrandt has also been awarded the “Innovative through research” seal by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wirtschaft e. V. (an association of businesses and foundations for the promotion of science and research) for the second time in a row. This highlights the Company’s role as an innovative provider of solutions in the market. “Bertrandt has expanded its international activities once again by, for example, opening a new location in Italy, and is also focusing on building and expanding its infrastructure. We are successively commissioning new testing facilities in northern Germany with the aim of offering innovative services for electrified drives,” says CEO Dietmar Bichler.
The Bertrandt Group performed in accordance with expectations in the first three months of fiscal 2017/2018. Total revenues increased by 2.3 percent year on year to EUR 752.632 million. EBIT rose by 23.9 percent to EUR 49.350 million, despite there being two fewer working days than in the previous reporting period. This is equal to a margin of 6.6 percent (previous year 5.4 percent). Post-tax earnings were EUR 32.093 million (previous year EUR 27.818 million). EUR 38.276 million (previous year EUR 28.979 million) were invested in buildings and technical equipment in the first nine months of the current fiscal year to meet needs related to trend topics. Bertrandt has, for example, invested in an electric all-wheel drive test stand and high-voltage test stands for power electronics. The equity ratio was 49.9 percent (previous year 47.0 percent). The number of employees increased by 62 in the reporting period to 13,028. The various fields in which the Company operates offer perspectives for specialists from numerous disciplines.
Bertrandt regards the underlying conditions in the next few years as positive: they will enable the Company to continue securing and enhancing its technical prowess as an engineering service provider and technology group, particularly in the trend fields of autonomous driving, electromobility, digitalisation and connectivity. This assessment is backed up by a study, undertaken by Oliver Wyman in cooperation with the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), which underscores the opportunities available for engineering service providers. Bertrandt therefore plans to expand its infrastructure and has decided to make very specific additions to its existing facilities and to build up new testing facilities. Good examples include the construction of two new testing centres in northern and southern Germany for new drive technologies, or the acquisition of more portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) which enable the mobile measurement of vehicle emissions. Bertrandt will also be using agile startuptype units and focusing on industries and customers in the fields of medical technology, virtual and augmented reality, cloud solutions, machine learning or big data.
| IFRS-based figures for the Bertrandt Group | 01/10/2017 - 30/06/2018 | 01/10/2016 - 30/06/2017 |
| Total revenues (in EUR thousands) | 752,632 | 735,688 |
| EBIT (in EUR thousands) | 49,350 | 39,822 |
| Post-tax earnings (in EUR thousands) | 32,093 | 27,818 |
| Free cashflow (in EUR thousands) | -6,530 | -16,215 |
| Investments (in EUR thousands) | 38,276 | 28,979 |
| Equity ratio (in percent) | 49.9 | 47.0 |
| Employees worldwide | 13,028 | 12,966 |
