Interim Report to 1st quarter 2011

• Orders received rise 50.5 percent in Q1/11 to EUR 397.1 million
• Group book-to-bill ratio climbs to 1.22
• Robotics posts new all-time high of EUR 183.1 million
• Sales revenue up 56.1 percent in Q1/11 to EUR 326.5 million
• EBIT margin improved from -0.8 percent in Q1/10 to 4.5 percent in Q1/11
• Earnings after taxes rise to EUR 5.4 million, compared to EUR -11.0 million in Q1/10
• KUKA raises guidance for 2011 financial year

KUKA Group first htree months 2011 business performance

Thanks to the continued recovery of the global economy at the beginning of 2011, there is strong demand for capital goods in all parts of the world. This drove KUKA Group's orders received for the first quarter just ended to EUR 397.1 million from the prior year's EUR 263.8 million, a jump of 50.5 percent, almost matching the prior record posted in Q1/2008 of EUR 404.3 million. In addition to the continuing high orders from the international automotive industry, general industry orders are now also picking up substantially.

The Robotics division reached a new all-time high for a quarterly result: EUR 183.1 million, up 59.6 percent from the prior year's EUR 114.7 million. The strongest growth came from general industry customers. The Systems division also benefited from the positive general economic conditions. The division's orders received in the first quarter of 2011 reached EUR 215.8 million, up 33.5 percent from the EUR 161.6 million posted in the first quarter of 2010.

KUKA Group's sales revenue was also up sharply in the first quarter of 2011. It came in at EUR 326.5 million, 56.1 percent higher than the EUR 209.1 million generated in Q1/2010, and comparable to the traditionally strong fourth-quarter number of EUR 324.6 million posted in Q4/2010. Especially noteworthy was the Systems division's sales revenue, which came in at EUR 204.7 million, 50.5 percent higher than the EUR 136.0 million posted for Q1/2010. The Robotics division's growth compared to last year was similar. Sales revenue jumped 57.8 percent from EUR 86.2 million in Q1/2010 to EUR 136.0 million for the first quarter of 2011. Here too, KUKA Robotics posted a quarterly all-time high.

KUKA Group's book to bill ratio - that is, orders received over sales revenues - for the first quarter of 2011 was thus 1.22. KUKA Group's order backlog thus continued to climb, rising EUR 69.7 million or 11.1 percent, from EUR 630.5 million at the end of 2010 to EUR 700.2 million as of March 31, 2011. Order backlog was 15.4 percent year-over-year. It stood at EUR 606.7 million on March 31, 2010. The increase was primarily driven by the Robotics division, which contributed EUR 48.1 million. The Systems division's order backlog rose EUR 20.1 million.

KUKA Group's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) have steadily improved from quarter to quarter since the beginning of last year and reached EUR 14.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. This very satisfactory development is mainly due to the significantly higher capacity loading, but also the process and structural improvements implemented throughout the company over the past two years. EBIT margin was 4.5 percent compared to -0.8 percent in Q1/2010. The Robotics division generated an EBIT of EUR 10.0 million in the first three months compared to EUR 0.5 million a year earlier, which represents an EBIT margin of 7.4 percent versus 0.6 percent in Q1/2010. The Systems division contributed EUR 7.7 million to KUKA Group's EBIT compared to EUR 2.1 million in Q1/2010, which represents an EBIT margin of 3.8 percent versus 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010. These results bring the divisions steadily closer to their EBIT target margins of 10 percent for Robotics and 5 percent for Systems.

Outlook

In fiscal 2010, KUKA established the preconditions for profitable growth. Taking into account the continued recovery of the world's economy, which has  returned to stable growth, we expect sales revenue to continue rising substantially and operating earnings (EBIT) to increase disproportionately at the Group level in 2011.

Provided the world economy continues to perform as expected, KUKA Group expects to generate sales revenue of at least EUR 1.2 billion in 2011. Higher capacity utilization, an improved sales revenue mix with a higher share from general industry and a lower breakeven point should enable the company to generate an EBIT margin of at least five percent in 2011.

“The first quarter business numbers make us confident about the remainder of the financial year,” underlines Dr. Till Reuter, CEO KUKA AG. “Therefore we adjusted the guidance for the current year.”

KUKA Group, Key figures

*adjusted for financing costs included in the operating result (IAS 23 R)