Preliminary figures for 2011

• KUKA meets guidance for 2011
• Orders received: soar 36 percent to record EUR 1.55 billion 
  • Robotics: jump 35 percent to EUR 654 million, a new all-time high
  • Systems: order received increase 28 percent to EUR 917 million
• Strong sales revenue growth: up 33 percent to EUR 1.44 billion
  • Group reports new quarterly record: EUR 403 million in Q4/11 
• EBIT growth stronger than sales growth to EUR 73 million; EBIT margin improved to 5.1 percent
• Free cash flow significantly improved: positive for full year 2011 overall

Augsburg, January 31, 2012

Driven by the strong global demand for robot-based automation, KUKA Group's preliminary results for the financial year just ended set new records. Orders received, sales and EBIT all hit new highs. Both divisions - Robotics and Systems - contributed to these excellent results. KUKA Group's preliminary numbers for 2011 break down as follows:

Orders received for the year just ended came in at EUR 1,553.0 million, up 36.0 percent from the year prior's EUR 1,142.3 million. It is the best ever result in KUKA's history. Robotics' orders received rose 34.6 percent to EUR 654.4 million, which compares to EUR 486.2 million last year. Strong growth came from both the automotive and general industry sectors. Due to the seasonal decline in order releases, particularly by the automotive industry, Robotics' orders received in Q4/11 of EUR 113.3 million were weaker than in prior quarters of 2011, but still 11.0 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2010. Systems was able to win numerous major automotive industry orders, especially for car body and assembly systems, but also general industry orders. Year-over-year, orders received were up 27.9 percent. In total, the division's orders received reached EUR 916.6 million, which compares to EUR 716.8 million in 2010.

KUKA Group's sales revenues for the financial year just ended peaked at EUR 1,435.6 million, up a full 33.1 percent from the EUR 1,078.6 million achieved in 2010. KUKA was able to steadily grow sales in each quarter, and driven by multiple project completion in Systems, brought in EUR 403.2 million in Q4/11, the highest quarterly number in 2011. Robotics' sales revenues in 2011 reached EUR 616.3 million, up 41.5 percent from the prior year's EUR 435.7 million. Systems' sales revenues rose 22.4 percent, to EUR 850.7 million from EUR 695.3 million in 2010.

At the same time, KUKA Group's order backlog rose again and reached a high EUR 724.0 million at the end of the 2011. This represents an increase of 14.8 percent from the EUR 630.5 million reported on the December 31, 2010. Robotics' order backlog at the end of 2011 was EUR 184.4 million, up 23.8 percent year-over-year, while Systems had EUR 545.0 on hand, an increase of 9.0 percent over the year prior.

KUKA Group's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose in each quarter of the financial year just ended and almost tripled overall, ending at EUR 72.6 million. Last year the company reported a final EBIT of EUR 24.8 million.The 2011 result was also the best in KUKA's history. EBIT margin too was significantly better, going from 2.3 percent in 2010 to 5.1 percent in 2011. The margin improvement was driven by economies of scale due to higher volumes, the introduction of the new QUANTEC generation of robots by Robotics and higher-quality projects in Systems. In addition, the savings from the cost reduction program in 2009/10 are now impacting the entire financial year.

Both divisions contributed to this delightful profit growth. Robotics was able to more than double its contribution to Group EBIT for 2011, reporting EUR 51.0 million in 2011 versus EUR 20.8 million in 2010. The division's EBIT margin rose during the same comparable period, to 8.3 percent from 4.8 percent. Better capacity utilization enabled Systems to improve its EBIT from EUR 20.0 million in 2010 to EUR 33.7 million in 2011. EBIT margin rose from 2.9 percent in 2010 to 4.0 percent in 2011. At the same time, the holding company's costs after completing its restructuring have been EUR 6.3 million lower.

Driven by the sharply higher business volume, KUKA Group engaged in targeted hiring of new employees and used contract workers to cover temporary capacity utilization peaks. Overall, the workforce expanded by 10.0 percent to 6,589, which compares to 5,990 on December 31, 2010. The number of contract workers rose from 843 on December 31, 2010 to 1,078 on December 31, 2011. Of the 599 new full-time employees hired by KUKA Group, the Robotics Division accounted for 406 and the System Division 187. On a percentage basis, the increases were 17.3 percent and 5.4 percent respectively. Other companies accounted for an additional six persons. On a regional basis, most of the hiring was done by foreign subsidiaries in the growth markets of the United States and South America, China, Hungary and India. In Germany, new hires were attributable mainly to Robotics. The division added here technical staff in research and development, as well as manufacturing in Augsburg.

KUKA CFO not available for another ter of office

KUKA AG announced today that Stephan Schulak will not be standing for office again as a director of the company beyond September 30, 2012. Stephan Schulak has worked for KUKA Group since April 2008, initially as CFO of the Robotics Group.

"Stephan Schulak has made an extraordinary contribution to restoring the profitability and financial stability of KUKA Group; the positive effect he has had will continue to benefit the company in the future too", says Bernd Minning, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KUKA AG. Jürgen Kerner, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, adds: "For those on the employee side, Stephan Schulak was a reliable partner with a sense of proportion, especially in the restructuring phase, who also considered the long-term interests of the workforce."

Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG: "With Stephan Schulak, we achieved a great deal together in the Executive Board. The superb figures for the 2011 financial year just ended are proof of this. We made great progress with profitability and cash flow in particular. The indicators for the Group's solid growth are also good for the current year".

The full 2011 financial report and outlook for 2012 will be presented at the financial results press conference in Munich on March 28, 2012.

KUKA Group, key figures

 *Employees with apprentices, without temporary workers

KUKA Robotics, key figures

KUKA Robotics, orders received by sector

KUKA Systems, key figures