SW Umwelttechnik Stoiser & Wolschner AG

Earnings Release • Apr 24, 2002

News Details

Ad-hoc | 24 April 2002 07:31

SW Umwelttechnik english

SW Umwelttechnik announces results for 2001 Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– SW Umwelttechnik announces results for 2001 * Modest increase in revenue due to excellent performance in Hungary * Cost of restructuring exercises in Austria and Germany weighed on earnings * Start-up at south Budapest factory * Entry to Romanian market At a press conference today the joint chief executives of SW Umwelttechnik – Heinz Wolschner and Dr. Bernd Wolschner – announced the company’s IAS results for 2001. * Strong showing in Hungary as demand sags in Austria and Germany For 2001 as a whole, the SW Umwelttechnik Group recorded an increase of 1.2% in revenue, from EUR 69.0 million (m) to EUR 69.8m. The share of total revenue accounted for by the Hungarian growth market climbed from 54% to 58%, while that of Austria dropped from 43% to 34%, and the remaining 8% were contributed by Germany and other neighbouring countries. At EUR 18.6m order backlog as of balance sheet date was virtually unchanged from the previous year’s level (2000: EUR 18.7m). * Earnings affected by restructuring expenses EBITDA registered an 11% year-on-year decline, from EUR 7.8m to EUR 6.9m. The dropping of low-margin product lines made in Austria and Germany led to a slight improvement in gross margins, but also to increased staff costs and other operating expenses. Restructuring expenses of EUR 1m also weighed on earnings; these chiefly concerned the closure of a natural building materials factory. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) retreated from EUR 5m to EUR 3.1m in 2001. This decline was largely attributable to higher depreciation and amortisation caused by additions to the consolidated group. In consequence, the EBIT margin narrowed from 7.3% to 4.4%. With finance cost growing slightly, POA dropped from EUR 4m to EUR 1.9m. Profit after tax was down to EUR 1.5m (2000: EUR 2.9m), and the consolidated profit after minorities was EUR 0.7m (2000: EUR 2.1m). The Management Board will be recommending to the Annual General Meeting the payment of a dividend of EUR 0.38 per share for 2001 (2000: EUR 0.75). end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 24.04.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: * Outlook Management anticipates a continuation of recent market trends in 2002. In Hungary and other EU candidate countries, strong demand due to the need to comply with EU directives is likely to result in rapid revenue growth for all the group’s business sectors. Shrinking demand and concentration in the industry are set to persist in Austria and Germany. Despite growing competition the group is looking for further increases in market shares for its water conservation sector in Hungary, owing to the high productivity of the operations there, and the good customer acceptance of its products. The Infrastructure Products sector is seen posting further improvements in results, with the south Budapest site expected to lay the basis for a robust increase in earnings. In Hungary as elsewhere, the Engineering sector depends heavily on municipal projects and the availability of funding for them, and is currently encountering delays in contract awards. Management nevertheless expects the necessary resources to be released for the relevant projects. SW Umwelttechnik anticipates that the niche products feeding through from its research and development effort will bring a significant improvement in the results of Austrian and German operations. Streamlining of the range of standard products – which face stiff competition – was initiated in 2001 and has now largely been completed, promising a positive contribution to cash flow. New products such as groundwater purification systems and biogas plants hold major sales potential for SW Umwelttechnik. – The need to meet the Kyoto targets is creating a major demand for renewable energy generation plant. Biogas will win substantial shares of the market for power and heating markets. – Due to the steep increases in traffic volume, there will also be rapid growth in the demand for groundwater purification systems to treat wastewater from motorways and main roads. In the light of the excellent performance in Hungary and SW Umwelttechnik’s stronger position in Austria and Germany due to recent restructuring programmes, management believes that the group will overcome the present dip in earnings, and that results for 2002 will be in similar territory to the record figures posted in 2000. Contacts Heinz Wolschner, member of the Management Board Tel: +43 (0)463 32109 0; fax: +43 (0)463 37667 Christian Riel, Finance & Investor Relations Tel: +43 (0)664 4337105; fax: +43 (0)1 3688686; e-mail: christian.riel@sw- umwelttechnik.at Website: http://www.sw-umwelttechnik.at ——————————————————————————– WKN: 080820; ISIN: AT0000808209; Index: Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Wien; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf und Stuttgart 240731 Apr 02