GEA Group AG

Earnings Release • Mar 24, 2005

News Details

Ad-hoc | 24 March 2005 18:28

mg technologies ag: return to profit in 2004

Ad hoc announcement §15 WpHG Annual accounts 2004 mg technologies ag: return to profit in 2004 Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Frankfurt am Main/Bochum, March 24, 2005 – Following the Supervisory Board meeting held to establish the company’s financial statements, which ended at 3.07 p.m. today, mg technologies ag can announce that in 2004 it returned to profit with pre-tax earnings (EBT) of EUR 10.2 million. The Group reported net income of EUR 61.6 million for 2004 (2003: net loss of EUR 198.6 million), representing earnings per share of EUR 0.32 (2003: a loss of EUR 1.02 per share). The net position of the mg Group improved by more than EUR 1 billion to EUR 326.8 million as a result of the disposal of the majority of its Chemicals activities. The strategic refocus on specialty mechanical engineering and plant engineering is almost complete. New orders increased substantially by 17.3 percent to EUR 4,243.6 million. In 2004, mg technologies ag generated sales of EUR 4,058.7 million, which was virtually unchanged on the previous year (down 0.2 percent). GEA was able to increase both sales and earnings across all areas of its business. For the first time, GEA’s activities were grouped under the new segments of Customized Systems, Process Equipment and Process Engineering. The former Industrial Plant Engineering business, which is now concentrated in the Plant Engineering segment, did report an overall pre-tax loss of EUR 25.7 million (2003: loss of EUR 195.6 million), but this was due exclusively to unsatisfactory performance at Lurgi. mg technologies ag is confident about prospects for 2005. Group sales are expected to rise to around EUR 4.5 billion and the return on sales to around four percent. Based on these figures, the company anticipates being able to distribute a dividend for 2005. mg technologies ag will provide more detailed information about the 2004 fiscal year and developments in the individual segments on March 29, 2005 at the Financial Statements Press Conference in Düsseldorf and the Analysts’ Meeting in Frankfurt am Main. Notes on the reporting: Since the second quarter of 2004, the Dynamit Nobel businesses that were sold with effect from July 31, 2004 and the Dynamit Nobel Plastics business currently for sale have been reported as discontinued operations (DOPs). To ensure comparability between the figures for 2003 and 2004, the 2003 quarterly results and the results for 2003 as a whole have been retroactively adjusted to show the Dynamit Nobel Group as a discontinued operation. All figures refer exclusively to continuing operations. Euro million 2004 2003 Change in % Order Intake 4,243.6 3,618.8 17.3 Sales 4,058.7 4,068.5 -0.2 EBIT 65.8 -310.6 121.2 EBT 10.2 -368.5 102.8 EPS in Euro 0.32 -1.02 131.4 Employees 31.12. 17,114 16,879 1.4 mg technologies ag Dorstener Straße 484 44809 Bochum Deutschland ISIN: DE0006602006 (MDAX) WKN: 660200 Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hamburg und München; Freiverkehr in Hannover und Stuttgart End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 24.03.2005 241828 Mär 05