Future development of NORMA Group SE

NORMA Group is not planning any significant changes to its company objectives and strategy. A detailed description of the strategic objectives is provided in the 2022 ANNUAL REPORT.

NORMA Group’s development in the first half of 2023 was influenced by a number of different factors. Negative factors included the still high level of inflation, which was partly reflected in continued sensitive price levels for energy, but also selected raw materials and (input) materials. Uncertainties in connection with the further development of the geopolitical and economic framework conditions and a tense interest rate environment also had a negative effect.

Based on information on which this report is based, the Management Board expects the business environment to remain challenging in the second half of 2023. However, based on the trend forecasts in the customer industries and markets of relevance to NORMA Group, the Management Board expects the key performance indicators to develop in fiscal year 2023 as last communicated in the 2022 Annual Report and confirmed in the Interim Statement for the first quarter of 2023.

Accordingly, the Management expects medium-single-digit organic Group sales growth overall in fiscal year 2023. The assessment of the expected development in the EMEA, Americas and Asia-Pacific regions as well as in the Engineered Joining Technology and Standardized Joining Technology sales channels also remain unchanged from the forecast published in the 2022 Annual Report.

With regard to the key operating performance indicators, the Management continues to expect an adjusted EBIT margin of around 8% for fiscal year 2023. For net operating cash flow, the Management expects a figure of around EUR 70 million in fiscal year 2023.

With regard to NORMA Value Added (NOVA), the Management Board assumes, based on current knowledge, that it will be within a corridor of between EUR –10 million and EUR 10 million for the full fiscal year 2023.

Higher interest rates are a key burdening factor. NORMA Group counters this with its comprehensive financing and liquidity management. This is primarily the responsibility of Group Treasury, which continuously monitors current market developments and plans and implements appropriate measures on a rolling basis. Taking the higher level of interest rates into account, the Management has made the assumptions regarding the financial result in fiscal year 2023 more precise and now expects a financial result of up to EUR –15 million for the full year 2023 (previously: “of up to EUR –12 million”).

In addition, the Management Board has specified the corridor for the adjusted tax rate. In fiscal year 2023, this is expected to be within a range of between 33% and 37% (previously: “between 28% and 30%”).

The other key financial figures, which are not presented in detail here, do not deviate from the figures forecast in the 2022 Annual Report. The following table provides an overview of the Management Board’s assumptions regarding the development of the most important key figures in fiscal year 2023.

This forecast is based on the assumption that there will be no further significant negative effects in the course of 2023 in connection with relevant influencing factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine or other negative economic and geopolitical drivers worldwide, which could exert significant pressure on NORMA Group’s business development. This is still assumed as a premise in this forecast.