• Operating profit slightly up again; Group result at previous year’s level
• Lower net revenue due to systematic restructuring measures and
  currency translation effects
• Further focus on digitisation as well as innovations for traditional and exciting products

Brügg/Biel, 30 August 2017 – Biella-Neher Holding AG (Biella Group), the largest European producer of lever arch files and ring binders, again improved its operating profit slightly in the first half of 2017. Group earnings remained at the previous year’s level due to positive one-off tax effects in 2016. Digitisation and innovation efforts were further intensified. The persistent rise in materials prices, combined with fierce competition, will put pressure on the company in the second half of the year.

Higher operating profit due to cost optimisations

The Biella Group managed to increase its operating profit again in the first half of 2017, despite the persistently challenging market environment and the preliminary costs associated with digitisation. It increased by CHF 0.2 million to CHF -1.5 million (previous year: CHF -1.7 million). Lower structural costs and further improvements in efficiency as a result of the restructuring measures in 2016 had a positive effect. At CHF -1.9 million, the Group result remained at the previous year’s level, despite one-off positive tax effects in 2016.

Lower net revenue due to systematic restructuring measures and currency translation effects

The turnover achieved during the reporting period was CHF 59.3 million (previous year: CHF 62.3 million). This decline is primarily attributable to non-profitable operations being ceased as part of the aforementioned restructuring measures. In addition, a strong temporary increase in the value of the Swiss franc in the first half of the year resulted in negative currency translation effects on the revenue generated outside of Switzerland.

When assessing the half-year results, the pronounced seasonal nature of the office supplies market should be taken into account, with the second half of the year expected to be significantly more positive than the first in terms of sales and income.

Biella Group figures, first half of 2017

The development of the Biella Group’s balance sheet was again encouraging. Equity capital increased by CHF 1.6 million to CHF 64.2 million, corresponding to an equity capital ratio of 64.9% (previous year: 59.5%). Net liquidity was up again, this time by CHF 0.7 million to CHF 6.6 million. At the same time, financial debt was cut considerably.

Further focus on digitisation as well as innovations for traditional and exciting products

With targeted, web-based marketing, Biella SimplyFind, launched in 2016, has been able to increase its profile on the market considerably this year and convince even more customers of the benefits of its features.

More customers are also being acquired for the Biella Creator online shop, which was launched last year for the Individual (personalised products) business. The possibility of designing custom office products and ordering them online is contributing towards the changing buying habits in the digital domain. In addition, an online presence is the ideal communication tool for making initial contact with new, web-savvy groups of customers. Biella Creator thereby makes an important contribution to the pleasing development of the Individual business, which has seen encouraging growth this year despite the declining market.

Furthermore, Biella is expanding its range of services in digital sales channels in particular, which are becoming increasingly established with high growth rates.

Outlook

The continued downturn in the office supplies market, combined with strong competition, will continue to place heavy demands on the company in the second half of the year.

In the coming months, there will also be additional pressure from the steep rise in raw materials prices, despite passing on these increases to the customer in the retail prices.

In the area of digitisation and innovation, further exciting services will be launched in the second half of the year. Together with our archiving system Biella SimplyFind, the product Data Safe in particular will set new standards in the market for finding and managing documents easily. Data Safe is a highly secure cloud solution for electronic document and password management, featuring semantic full-text search.

About Biella

The Biella Group helps organisations of all sizes, as well as individuals, to manage and find all types of documents efficiently and easily. As one of Europe's most important and successful providers of office supplies and the inventor of the lever arch file, Biella is an expert in the storage of physical documents. Innovative solutions ensure order in the world of digital information and documents. Hybrid products combine the physical and digital document cycles. With Biella's solutions, documents can be managed and found quickly, easily and efficiently. Some 700 people are employed throughout the Biella Group. www.biellagroup.com

The shares of Biella-Neher Holding AG (Valor: 151.948, ISIN: CH0001519484) are traded on the Berner Kantonalbank OTC-X and the ZKB e-KMU-X small-caps platforms and at Lienhardt & Partner.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Biella Group
Biella-Neher Holding Ltd.
Marco Arrigoni, CEO
Erlenstrasse 44
CH-2555 Brügg

Tel.: +41 32 366 34 04
E-mail: presse@biellagroup.com