In the first half of the year Voltabox expands growth base and raises its revenue forecast for the full year

- Group sales up 71 percent to EUR 18.1 million (prior year: EUR 10.6 million)

- EBITDA grows from EUR 0.2 million in the prior year to EUR 1.7 million

- EBIT increases to EUR 0.1 million (prior year: EUR -0.7 million), EBIT margin improves significantly to 0.6 percent (prior year: -7.1 percent)

- Continued high equity ratio of 91.5 percent (December 31, 2017: 90.8 percent)

- Number of employees increased by 45 in the first half of the year to 144

- Forecast for 2018 updated as a result of the acquisition of Navitas Systems and the restructuring of the agreement with Triathlon: Revenue of EUR 65-70 million with an EBIT margin of about 7 percent

Delbrück, Germany, August 21, 2018 - Today Voltabox AG [ISIN DE000A2E4LE9] published its results for the first half of 2018 and updated its full year forecast.

"We are on the right track to making Voltabox the world market leader in selected high-margin market segments," says Jürgen Pampel, CEO of Voltabox AG. "The new cooperation agreement with Triathlon, the acquisition of Concurrent Design and of Navitas Systems show that we do not want to lose any time. We are creating structures that will secure our market success and sustainably strengthen our profitability".

Voltabox AG generated revenue of EUR 18.1 million in the first half of 2018 and thus grew by 71.0 percent (prior year: EUR 10.6 million). Profitability increased just as significantly year-on-year. The EBIT margin amounted to 0.6 percent (prior year: -7.1 percent).

Voltabox made considerable high points in the implementation of its ambitious growth strategy in the past half of the year. Along with the acquisition of Concurrent Design with more than 20 engineers, project managers and software developers, the company also announced the acquisition of Navitas Systems. Thanks to the North American market leader for lithium-ion battery systems in the area of intralogistics, Voltabox is able to expand this market more quickly and accelerating the pace of growth on its way to the pursued market leadership. With Navitas, Voltabox also immediately covers another stage in the e-mobility value chain: The US company operates a modern facility for the production of highly specialized battery cells. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the American authorities. The initial consolidation is still expected to take place in the third quarter.

In addition, Voltabox has contractually rearranged the cooperation with Triathlon that has existed since 2014. In this way, the company enters the field of direct sales in intralogistics. Voltabox will be able to serve manufacturers of forklift trucks and large logistics companies directly in the future.

Strong demand for battery modules for forklift trucks

The excellent operative performance of the business with battery modules for forklifts and battery systems for trolleybuses was a key factor in the company's growth in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Moreover, the series production of battery systems for an underground mining vehicle also made its first contribution to revenue growth. The series production of starter batteries for motorcycles also contributed to revenue.

Quick expansion of automated series production

With increasingly automated production, the cost of materials increased only disproportionately 49.4 percent to EUR 10.9 million (prior year: EUR 7.3 million), which is mainly attributable to changes in exchange rates for the procurement of cells. The materials input ratio fell accordingly to 60.1 percent (prior year: 68.8 percent). This resulted in a gross profit for the period under review of EUR 10.7 million (prior year: EUR 6.3 million), which constitutes a gross profit margin of 58.9 percent (prior year: 59.3 percent). Personnel expenses rose by 83.1 percent to EUR 5.1 million, mainly due to the acquisition of Concurrent Design and further new hires in the development, project management, production and administration (prior year: EUR 2.8 million). Accordingly, the personnel expense ratio came to 28.3 percent (prior year: 26.5 percent). The number of employees increased by 45 to 144 in the first half year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 758 percent to EUR 1.7 million (prior year: EUR 0.2 million), which corresponds to an EBITDA margin of 9.4 percent (prior year: 1.9 percent). After an expected increased depreciation and amortization totaling EUR 1.6 million (prior year: EUR 0.9 million), earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved to EUR 0.1 million (prior year: EUR -0.7 million). Taking the increase in revenue into account, the EBIT margin increased significantly to 0.6 percent (prior year: -7.1 percent). In spite of a slightly decreased financial result of EUR -0.4 million (prior year: EUR -0.3 million) and income tax expenses of EUR 0.2 million (prior year: EUR 0.4 million income, mainly due to changes in deferred taxes), the Voltabox Group achieved a slightly improved consolidated net income of EUR -0.5 million for the period under review (prior year: EUR -0.6 million). This corresponds to earnings per share of EUR - 0.03.

Very good Net Assets and Financial Position

Noncurrent assets increased by EUR 6.4 million to EUR 37.5 million (December 31, 2017: EUR 31.1 million). In addition to the EUR 2.6 million increase in goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Concurrent Design, Inc., this increase is also due to the EUR 3.0 million increase in intangible assets to EUR 19.4 million stemming from the capitalization of own work in connection with the development of new battery systems and power electronics components.

Current assets decreased to EUR 131.7 million (December 31, 2017: EUR 139.6 million). While inventories increased by EUR 1.1 million to EUR 5.3 million and trade receivables by EUR 11.7 million to EUR 33.7 million due to the dynamic expansion of business activities, the decline was mainly attributable to cash and cash equivalents, which decreased by EUR 28.4 million to EUR 74.2 million. This is mainly due to operating expenses in connection with the dynamic growth strategy in the intralogistics market. The purchase price payment for the acquisition of Concurrent Design, Inc. accounted for EUR 2.6 million. Other assets increased to EUR 8.5 million as a result of the premature rearrangement of the cooperation agreement with our partner Triathlon, primarily reflecting the capitalization of one-time investment contributions for the capacity expansion (December 31, 2017: EUR 0.3 million).

Voltabox AG's equity remained nearly unchanged at EUR 154.9 million (December 31, 2017: EUR 155.0 million). The equity ratio increased to 91.5 percent in view of the slightly lower balance sheet total (December 31, 2017: 90.8 percent).

"With the tailwind from the IPO, we expanded our portfolio in the first half of the year to include success-critical parts," says Andres Klasing, CFO of Voltabox. "Navitas is the cornerstone that will complete our value chain in electromobility. We will now make even better use of our high degree of automation in the different market segments and thus realize economies of scale".

Cash flow from operating activities decreased significantly in the period under review to EUR - 24.6 million (prior year: EUR 4.4 million). Primarily, this is a consequence of the strong increase in trade receivables of EUR 19.4 million. The reason for this, in turn, was the granting of longer payment periods to the cooperation partner Triathlon as a sales-promoting measure to provide sales financing to our customer. Furthermore, trade payables and other liabilities decreased by EUR 1.3 million after having increased EUR 6.5 million in the prior year. Other non-cash income and expenses fell to EUR -3.8 million due to currency translation effects (prior year: EUR 1.0 million).

Cash flow from investment activity decreased in the period under review by EUR 1.0 million to EUR -3.5 million (prior year: EUR -2.5 million), which was mainly due to slightly increased investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled EUR 74.2 million as of the end of the reporting period (December 31, 2017: EUR 102.7 million).

Growth driven by intralogistics and mining

Due to the initial consolidation of Navitas Systems, LLC expected within the third quarter, Voltabox AG has raised its revenue forecast from the original EUR 60 million to EUR 65-70 million. The expected operating profitability remains unchanged. However, the strategically important premature rearrangement of the partner agreement with Triathlon to secure the strategic goal of market leadership is burdening the EBIT in the current fiscal year by about EUR 2 million. Therefore, the EBIT margin for the full year 2018 is now expected to be approximately 7 percent (instead of previously around 10 percent).

In addition to the intralogistics segment, mining will also be a major growth driver. The Management Board expects to see an investment volume of around EUR 13.4 million in the current year. Own work capitalized should amount to around 43 percent of the investment total for the current year.

The interim report and condensed consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2018, are available for download at http://ir.voltabox.ag/websites/voltabox/English/0/investor-relations.html.

Profile: Voltabox AG

Voltabox AG (ISIN DE000A2E4LE9), which is listed in the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is a high-growth e-mobility system provider for industrial applications. Its core business lies in intrinsically safe, highly developed high-performance lithium-ion batteries that are modular and in serial production. The battery systems are primarily used in buses for public transportation, forklifts, automated guided vehicles and mining vehicles. The company also develops and produces high-quality lithium-ion batteries for selected mass market applications, such as high performance motorcycles.

Voltabox has production sites at its headquarters in Delbrück, Germany, in Austin, Texas, and in Kunshan, China, as well as a development site in Aachen, Germany.

Additional information about Voltabox can be found at www.voltabox.ag/en/.

Financial Press & Investor Relations Contact

Voltabox AG

Dr. Kai Holtmann
Artegastraße 1
D-33129 Delbrück
Phone: +49 (0) 52 50 - 99 30-964
Fax: +49 (0) 52 50 - 99 30-901
Email: investor@voltabox.ag