GEA Group AG

Earnings Release • Oct 29, 2009

News Details

Corporate | 29 October 2009 07:30

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft: GEA increases operating profit as against previous quarter

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft / Quarter Results

29.10.2009

Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

---

* EBITDA before restructuring expenses in Q3: EUR 112 million (Q2: EUR 95
million)
* EPS in the first nine months up 24% year-on-year to EUR 0.52
* Operating cash flow for the first nine months at EUR 226 million, of
which EUR 100 million in Q3
* Outlook for 2009: 7% EBIT margin before restructuring; revenue of EUR 4.4
billion

Bochum, October 29, 2009 - GEA Group again increased its EBITDA margin to
10.5 percent (before restructuring) in the third quarter despite a
difficult market environment. Order intake fell by 21.4 percent compared
with Q3 2008 to EUR 962.3 million due to the economic conditions and GEA's
concentration on low-risk, high-margin orders. However, this year-on-year
decline remains much lower than in the mechanical engineering sector as a
whole thanks to GEA Group's focus on less volatile customer industries,
coupled with its robust, broad-based product portfolio. The Group's revenue
in the third quarter was 19.5 percent lower than in the previous year.
EBITDA before restructuring amounted to EUR 111.7 million in Q3, 26.9
percent below the same quarter of 2008. One-time restructuring expenses
totaled EUR 39.0 million in the first nine months. The Group's profit was
EUR 34.8 million in the third quarter, and EUR 96.0 million in the first
nine months.

The capacity adjustment measures initiated at the end of the previous year
are being implemented as planned. The shedding of more than 1,700 full-time
equivalents by the end of the third quarter enabled the Group to achieve
around 75 percent of its announced target of approximately 2,300. The
savings produced by these measures are already having a positive effect on
the Group's profit.

'The effects of the global economic crisis have not yet been overcome.
However, demand from the food and power generation sectors - with which we
generate most of our revenue - is proving comparatively stable. We will
continue to focus on safeguarding margin quality in the long term. This
means that, although we expect our revenue to decline by approximately 15
percent in 2009, our EBITDA margin before restructuring expenses will only
fall by around 200 basis points. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of
around 7 percent,' said Jürg Oleas, Chairman of the Executive Board of GEA
Group Aktiengesellschaft. 'Our recently resolved reorganization into five
operating segments, coupled with a reduction in the number of individual
companies, will lead to sustained annual savings of over EUR 65 million in
the medium term and secure opportunities for profitable growth. Assuming
that the markets recover and growth picks up, this should allow GEA to
achieve an EBIT margin of 12 percent.'

GEA Group consolidated data for Q3 2009
(EUR million) Q3 2009 Q3 2008

Order Intake
Energy and Farm Technology 338.4 397.1
Process Technology 626.4 828.9
GEA Group 962.3 1,223.5

Revenue
Energy and Farm Technology 354.7 478.7
Process Technology 700.6 831.9
GEA Group 1,060.8 1,318.0

EBITDA before restructuring expenses 111.7 152.7
% of revenue 10.5 11.6
EBITDA 87.9 152.7
EBIT before restructuring expenses 87.2 131.8
% of revenue 8.2 10.0
EBIT 63.5 131.8
% of revenue 6.0 10.0
EBT 49.3 116.5
Profit after tax on continuing operations 36.0 82.1
Loss after tax on discontinued operations -1.2 -126.5
GEA Group profit for the period 34.8 -44.4
Earnings per share from continuing operations 1) 0.19 0.45
Earnings per share from discontinued operations 1) -0.01 -0.69
Earnings per share 1) 0.19 -0.24
Net debt 2)3) 214.1 229.6
Capital expenditure 22.1 32.5
Employees at balance sheet date 4) 20,708 21,084

1) in EUR
2) Including discontinued operations
3) Net debt = loan liabilities - cash - securities
4) Full-time equivalents (FTE) excl. apprentices/trainees and
inactive employment contracts

GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is one of the largest system providers for
food and energy processes with about EUR 5.2 billion in 2008 revenue. As an
internationally operating technology group, the company focuses on process
technology and components for demanding production processes in various end
markets. The group generates about 70 percent of its revenue from the
long-term growing food and energy industries. As of September 30, 2009, a
workforce of over 20,000 employees served customers in 50 countries. GEA
Group is a market and technology leader in 90 percent of its business
areas. GEA Group is listed in the MDAX index (G1A, WKN 660200).

If you wish to unsubscribe from the news distribution list of GEA Group
Aktiengesellschaft, please send an e-mail to pr@geagroup.com or dial +49
(0)234-980-1081.

29.10.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

---

Language: English
Company: GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft
Dorstener Straße 484
44809 Bochum
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)234 980-0
Fax: +49 (0)234 980-1004
E-mail: ir@geagroup.com
Internet: www.geagroup.com
ISIN: DE0006602006
WKN: 660200
Indices: MDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard),
Düsseldorf, München, Hamburg; Freiverkehr in Hannover,
Stuttgart

End of News DGAP News-Service

---