PRESS RELEASE

M.A.X. Automation Group right on track to start the year 2015

- Order intake increases by approximately 36% in the first quarter

- Order book position at a record level as per March 31

- Group revenue of EUR 75.6 million around 4% higher than the same quarter of last year

- Group EBIT before PPA improves by EUR 3.5 million to EUR 1.7 million

- Management Board confirms targets for financial year 2015

Düsseldorf, May 15, 2015 - M.A.X. Automation Group experienced a lively course of business in the first quarter of 2015 and is thus fully in line with plan. The company that specializes in high-quality automation processes for the Industrial Automation and Environmental Technology segments managed to improve key performance indicators, in some cases rather significantly, compared to the same quarter of the previous year and even set a new record for its order book position. Based on how the business has been developing thus far, the Management Board confirms its previous targets for the full year 2015.

Key figures for the first quarter of 2015

- Consolidated new order intake amounted to EUR 90.9 million, a 36.5% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year (EUR 66.6 million).

- The consolidated order book position per March 31, 2015, reached the record level of EUR 174.4 million, a 17.8% improvement over the same day in 2014 (EUR 148.0 million). The book-to-bill ratio of 1.20 also suggests further growth in sales.

- Group sales increased by 3.5% from EUR 73.0 million to EUR 75.6 million.

- Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and PPA-related amortization improved by EUR 3.5 million to EUR 1.7 million. Both the growth of operations and currency effects contributed to this performance.

- Earnings for the period, which are usually weaker in the first quarter in line with seasonal effects, increased to EUR -0.2 million. A quarterly loss of EUR 2.7 million was posted for the same quarter of last year.

- Equity amounted to EUR 100.0 million as per March 31. At a solid EUR 33.0%, the equity ratio was still above the minimum mark of 30% which the company had set for itself.

Development of the segments
In the Industrial Automation segment, revenue declined by 8.7% from EUR 48.9 million to EUR 44.6 million as expected due to the start-up of new projects and the process-related temporarily lower capacity utilization that this caused for the segment companies. The company expects to achieve significantly higher capacity utilization in the subsequent quarters. Segment EBIT before PPA amortization improved by EUR 0.8 million to EUR 0.7 million compared to the same quarter of last year.

The business in the Environmental Technology segment also performed better than initially expected in the first three months of the year. Revenue rose by 26.7% to EUR 30.6 million (Q1 2014: EUR 24.2 million). Segment EBIT before PPA amortization improved by around EUR 3.0 million to EUR 1.9 million. This significant improvement in earnings was mainly the result of the higher sales of the Group company Vecoplan AG while fixed costs remained unchanged. Furthermore, currency effects and optimization measures also had a positive impact on earnings. In addition, Vecoplan AG acquired the remaining shares in Vecoplan LLC in the USA. Direct operational control of this company as part of our successful business in North America is therefore now possible.

Switch to the Prime Standard completed
M.A.X. Automation AG completed the switch from the General Standard to the Prime Standard segment of the German Stock Exchange that it had announced earlier on April 1, 2015. The company thus now meets the highest requirements for publicity and transparency and therefore makes itself more accessible to a broader investor base.

Framework contracts in the automotive field
M.A.X. Automation signed two framework contracts with a well-known automotive manufacturer and a leading supplier to the automotive industry in April 2015. These contracts have a total volume of around EUR 50 million and will have an impact on order intake and sales up until the years 2018 and 2020.

Outlook for financial year 2015
The Management Board considers the positive business trend in the first quarter of 2015 and the dynamic development of orders to be a good basis for achieving the objectives for the current year. Considering the current Group portfolio, the Management Board confirms its forecasts of Group revenue of between EUR 360 million and EUR 380 million and Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) before PPA depreciation and amortization of between EUR 20 million and EUR 22 million. Here, the fact that the main contributions to revenue and earnings can be expected in the second half of the year due to the usual seasonal nature of our businesses must also be taken into consideration.

Fabian Spilker, CEO of M.A.X. Automation AG: "With three acquisitions and a divestment in only one and a half years, we have made significant progress on strategically focusing on our core businesses in the area of high-tech mechanical engineering. Today, M.A.X. Automation offers an extended range of services and has entered new target markets. We consider the lively course of business in the first quarter of 2015 to be confirmation of our strategy. At the same time, we completed switching stock exchange segments and are convinced that we will be able to attract new groups of investors, institutional investors, in particular."

The complete report on the first quarter of 2015 will be available for downloading later today on M.A.X. Automation AG's website under http://www.maxautomation.de in the section entitled "Investor Relations."

Contact:
Frank Elsner / Frank Paschen
Frank Elsner Kommunikation für Unternehmen GmbH
Phone: +49 - 5404 - 91 92 0
Fax: +49 - 5404 - 91 92 29

About M.A.X. Automation AG
M.A.X. Automation AG (WKN: 658090/ISIN: DE0006580905), Düsseldorf, is an internationally active group of companies that includes the two segments Industrial Automation and Environmental Technology. M.A.X. Automation offers technologically advanced products and solutions in both areas for order-based special machine construction and for standard systems. The group companies that comprise M.A.X. Automation are active in sustainable growth markets such as automobile manufacturing, medical technology, recycling, packaging automation, and the electrical and electronics industries. We develop and manufacture technologically sophisticated components and system solutions for special machine construction that meet our customers' individual demands. Innovative technologies from areas such as microassembly and robotics are used here.