DGAP-News: Vita 34 significantly increases profitability in the first quarter and paves the way for expansion of the product portfolio

Vita 34 significantly increases profitability in the first quarter and paves the way for expansion of the product portfolio

• Revenues after restructuring of foreign sales structures slightly down by EUR 4.8 million
• EBITDA increases by 21.0 percent to EUR 1.3 million / EBITDA margin rises to 27.0 percent
• Portfolio expansion as basis for further sustainable growth pursued

Leipzig, 9 May 2019 - Vita 34 AG (ISIN: DE000A0BL849, WKN: A0BL84), one of the largest cell banks in Europe, significantly increased its profitability in the first quarter of 2019 following a robust sales performance in the DACH region. Following the sales restructuring of individual foreign markets in the second half of 2018, sales stabilized here in the course of the quarter and most recently completed the anticipated bottoming out.

At Group level, the revenue development of EUR 4.8 million was slightly weaker, as anticipated (Q1 2018: EUR 5.1 million). Above all, the stable positive development in the particularly high-margin DACH region, the company's core markets, and the successfully implemented restructuring measures in Scandinavia led to a significant increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 21.0 percent to EUR 1.3 million (Q1 2018: EUR 1.1 million). The EBITDA margin increased accordingly from 21.0 to 27.0 percent.

"The measures taken by us in recent quarters to increase efficiency in our foreign sales regions are now having a very positive impact on earnings," explains Falk Neukirch, CFO of Vita 34 AG. "Sales development in the international markets outside the DACH region was still influenced by the sales restructuring in individual country markets required in 2017 and 2018 during the reporting period and therefore declined slightly. Here, however, a bottom formation is emerging. At the same time, the realignment offers clear potential for the future."

The positive business development in the first quarter of 2019 was particularly concise in the development of operating cash flow, which more than doubled to EUR 1.2 million (Q1 2018: EUR 0.5 million). This also benefited the Group's financial resources, which further improved with an increase in cash and cash equivalents to EUR 7.5 million (31 December 2018: EUR 7.0 million).

The key performance indicators for the first quarter of 2019 are as follows:

in '000		Q1 2019	Q1 2018	∆
Revenues		4,785	5,076	-5.7 %
Gross result		2,889	2,930	-1.4 %
EBITDA		1,292	1,067	+21.0 %
EBITDA margin[%]		27.0	21.0
EBIT		678	541	+25.2 %
Net result for the period		461	308	+49.9 %
Operating cash flow		1,223	472	+159.0 %
Cash and cash equivalents [end of period]		7,525	6,960	8.1 %

The planned increase in cash and cash equivalents, resulting from the high level of operating cash flow, will be available to the Company's Executive Board for investments in the future organic and acquisition-related growth of Vita 34 as the year progresses. Further sources of funding will be added upon project progress.

"As stated in our current corporate presentation, we see significant growth potential for our company in the coming years, and above all through the development and introduction of new products," says Dr. Wolfgang Knirsch, Chief Executive Officer of Vita 34. "In addition to our AdipoVita product, which we hope to launch later this year, we are focusing our human and financial resources on investments into expanding our product range for the storage of peripheral blood for the use in immune cell therapies. After the preliminary legal review in the first quarter has already been approved, we would ideally expect a market launch within the next 24 months, provided that all further steps of the approval process can be completed according to plan as expected."

Further information on the company and the current company presentation can be found in the Investor Relations section of the Vita 34 AG website at https://www.vita34.de/investor-relations/.

Contact:
Ingo Middelmenne
Investor Relations
Vita 34 AG
Phone: +49 (0341) 48792 - 0
Mobile: +49 (0174) 9091190
Email: ingo.middelmenne@vita34.de

Company profile:
Vita 34 was founded in Leipzig in 1997 and is today one of the leading cell banks in Europe. As the first private umbilical cord blood bank in Europe and a pioneer in cell banking, the company has since then been a complete provider of cryopreservation services for the collection, processing and storage of stem cells from umbilical cord blood and umbilical cord tissue. Based on the expansion of the business model in 2019, Vita 34 intends to also offer the storage of stem cells from endogenous fat as well as immune cells and cell preparations from peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood in the future. Nursing cells are a valuable source of medical cell therapy and are kept alive at temperatures as low as minus 200 degrees Celsius for use as part of a treatment when needed. More than 230,000 customers from more than 20 countries have already provided for their family's health with a cell depot at Vita 34.