Interim Report as of September 30, 2012

• Consolidated orders received in first nine months climb to nearly EUR 1.49 billion, up 22.3 percent from the year prior
  • Robotics division posts orders received of EUR 660.1 million, beating last year's result by 22.0 percent
  • Systems division posts orders received of EUR 849.6 million, up 23.5 percent from last year
• Strong orders received in the first half of fiscal 2012 drove KUKA's sales to a new record in the third quarter. They ended at EUR 490.5 million, 32.9 percent higher than the year prior.
• Consolidated EBIT margin improves to 6.3 percent for the first nine months of fiscal 2012
  • Robotics EBIT margin rises to 11.1 percent
    • Systems hit its 5.0 percent target margin in the third quarter
• Earnings after taxes more than double in the first nine months to EUR 42.4 million
• Guidance 2012 confirmed and concretizing

Business performance ind the first nine minths of 2012

KUKA generated strong results in the past nine months. The trend toward robot-based automation remains uninterrupted and is reflected in KUKA's orders received. Demand from the automotive sector in particular continued to be high in all three quarters due to many new models and technical innovations. Demand from general industry is also excellent; however, it declined slightly in a number of sectors in the third quarter.

Overall, KUKA AG's orders received in the first nine months of 2012 came in at just under EUR 1.49 billion, up from EUR 1.22 billion after nine months in 2011. In the third quarter, total order volume for the Robotics and Systems divisions was roughly the same as last year at EUR 377.7 million. The Robotics division's third quarter orders received came in at EUR 185.1 million, 5.9 percent higher than the EUR 174.8 million posted in Q3/2011, while Systems brought in EUR 200.3 million compared to EUR 209.3 million in Q3/2011.

Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG, commented as follows: "Both divisions landed large orders in the first half of fiscal 2012, which drove sales to a high this quarter. KUKA reported EUR 491 million, a new quarterly record." Reuter continued: "General industry customer inquiries underscore the market's excitement about our small robot series KR AGILUS, which we started selling in September 2012. And our future product, the lightweight robot, will redefine the understanding of cooperation between humans and machines."

Because of the high orders received volume in the first half of the fiscal year, KUKA Group posted a new sales record of EUR 490.5 million for the third quarter. Consolidated sales revenues in the first nine months came in at EUR 1,306.5 million, up 26.5 percent year-over-year. Both divisions contributed equally. The Systems division surpassed the EUR 300 million threshold for the first time and generated sales revenues of EUR 301.6 million, up from EUR 208 million in Q3/2011. The Robotics division also generated very satisfactory sales revenues, billing EUR 199.9 million, which compares to EUR 165.6 million in Q3/2011. KUKA Group's book-to-bill ratio came in at 1.14 for the first nine months, still a high level. It was 1.18 after nine months in 2011.

Because KUKA Group's orders received in the third quarter of 2012 were lower than sales revenues, the order backlog shrank, although it was still at a very high level. At the end of the quarter, the company had EUR 952.6 million worth of orders on hand. This represents a substantial increase of 19.3 percent from the EUR 798.6 million recorded on September 30, 2011. The Robotics division's third-quarter 2012 order backlog was EUR 294.2 million, down 4.5 percent from the level on June 30, 2012, and Systems had orders on hand of EUR 665.5 million, 11.2 percent less than on June 30, 2012. Overall, KUKA Group's factory loading will be excellent well into 2013.

KUKA's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the first nine months of fiscal 2012 came in at EUR 82.2 million, versus EUR 50.3 million after the first nine months of 2011. EBIT margin (that is, EBIT over sales revenues) was thus 6.3 percent, compared to 4.9 percent at the end of the first nine months of 2011.

EBIT reached EUR 31.7 million in the third quarter versus EUR 19.2 million for Q3/2011. Third-quarter EBIT margin was 6.5 percent, compared to 5.2 percent in Q3/2011. The respective margin has thus been higher than in the prior quarter for every quarter since 2010 without interruption. The Robotics division generated an EBIT of EUR 21.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 compared to EUR 14.3 million in Q3/2011. EBIT margin was 10.8 percent versus 8.6 percent in Q3/2011. In the third quarter of 2012, the division's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) came in at EUR 15.2 million versus EUR 7.9 million in Q3/2011 and its EBIT margin reached the 5.0 percent target for the first time. EBIT margin had been reported at 3.8 percent in Q3/2011.

In total, KUKA Group's earnings after taxes in the first nine months of 2012 more than doubled to EUR 42.4 million from EUR 20.3 million last year. Earnings per share improved accordingly, going from EUR 0.61 to EUR 1.25.

Outlook

The strong results for the first nine months of 2012 prove that KUKA Group is growing profitably. Customers have faith in the quality of the products and benefit from the company’s innovation strength. The Group is well positioned for the future.

We are confirming and concretizing our guidance for 2012 based on the growth in the first nine months of 2012. Given unchanged general conditions, KUKA now expects sales revenues of EUR 1.65 billion for fiscal 2012. Based on this sales forecast, KUKA now expects to generate an EBIT margin of at least 6 percent.

"The demand for robot-based automation solutions continues to be steady in the industrialized nations and the emerging markets. KUKA will participate in the auto sector's strong capital spending in local markets by building a factory in China, soon to be the world's largest robot market," said Dr. Till Reuter.

KUKA Group key figures

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