MTU Aero Engines slightly raises earnings forecast following nine-month results

In the first nine months of 2016, MTU Aero Engines AG saw its revenues increase by 4% to €3,401.3m (1-9/2015: €3,257.0m). The group’s operating profit increased by 18% to €393.8m (1-9/2015: €333.1m), improving the EBIT margin from 10.2% to 11.6%. Earnings after tax increased by 18% to €273.4m (1-9/2015: €231.4m). The increase in MTU’s revenues is primarily due to strong growth in the commercial maintenance business, where revenues grew by 19% to €1,368.3m (1-9/2015: €1,148.4m). The main source of these revenues was the V2500 engine for the A320. Revenues in the commercial engine business have decreased slightly, by 3%, to €1,738.3m (1-9/2015: €1,792.8m). The engine programs V2500, GP7000 for the A380 and GEnx for the Boeing 787 and 747-8 generated the greatest share of revenues in the commercial engine business. MTU expects deliveries of the PW1100G-JM for the A320neo to rise steeply in the fourth quarter, pushing revenues up accordingly. As of September 30, 2016, MTU had an order backlog of €11,153.0m (Dec 31, 2015: €12,493.7m). The majority of these orders relate to the V2500 and the geared turbofan engines of the PW1000G family, in particular the PW1100G-JM for the A320neo. Both of MTU’s operating segments reported higher earnings in the first nine months of 2016. In the OEM segment, adjusted EBIT climbed 20% to €264.5m (1-9/2015: €220.4 million), while the EBIT margin gained 2.3 points to reach 12.6%. In the commercial maintenance segment, adjusted EBIT improved by 14.8% from €112.4m to €129.0m, resulting in an EBIT margin of 9.4%, compared with 9.8% for the same period in 2015. MTU’s free cash flow at the end of September 2016 amounted to €75.0m (1-9/2015: €119.4m). “We expect to see a similar volume at the end of the year and have maintained our forecast of around €70m,” said Reiner Winkler, CEO of MTU Aero Engines.