AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG

Earnings Release • Oct 21, 2004

News Details

Ad-hoc | 21 October 2004 07:29

AT&S’s sales increase by 7.7%, EBIT by 24%, Profits rise by 273%

Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Results for the first half year of 2004/05 to 30 September 2004 AT&S’s sales increases by 7.7%, EBIT by 24%, Profits rise by 273% AT&S AG, Vienna, Austria, 21 October 2004 In the first six months of 2004/05, AT&S has not only exceeded the previous year’s figure by 7.7% with its sales of EUR 163.9 million, but has also achieved the highest half-year turnover in its historyThis means there was a turnover of EUR 85.9 million (+9%)in the second quarter. In comparison to the same period of the previous year, the EBIT has increased in the second quarter by 6% to EUR 8.8 million. Therefore, the EBIT margin reached 10.2% in the second quarter. In first half of the financial year, this produced an EBIT of EUR 15.2 million. This corresponds to an increase year-over-year of 24%. The quarterly result before tax amounted to EUR 10 million (+ 149%). This resulted in a half-year pre-tax profit of EUR 17.2 million (+106%). In the second quarter, the net income rose to EUR 8.5 million (+186%). Cumulated, AT&S has achieved a half-year net income of EUR 16.1 million and exceeded the result of the same period in the previous year by 273%. The result per share is EUR 0.33 for the second quarter of 2004/05. This accumulates to EUR 0.62 for the half-year (EUR 0.17 in the first half-year of 2003/04). AT&S’s net debt is EUR 50.6 million at the end of the first half-year (EUR 56.9 Mio one year ago). As a result, the net gearing is 23.9 %. After the second quarter, AT&S’s management views the financial year very positively and expects a full-capacity operation to continue in the third quarter. AT&S expects to achieve a growth in turnover of 10% for the whole year. Profits will increase even more significantly. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 21.10.2004 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Results according to US-GAAP (in millions of Euros, earnings/share in EUR): 1 HY 04/05 Margin 1HY 03/04 Margin Total revenues 163.9 152.1 Gross profit 27.7 16.9% 21.3 14.0% EBITDA 37.4 22.8% 32.7 21.5% EBIT 15.2 9.3% 12.3 8.1% Net income 16.1 4.3 Earnings/share 0.62 0.17 Net debt 50.6 56.9 Net gearing 23.9% 29.8% Explanations of the result for the first half year of 2004/05 The three main reasons for AT&S’s record half-year are the continuing boom in mobile telephone sales, AT&S’s very successful strategy in dealing with European industrial customers and finally the plant in Shanghai, which is now fully operational. The turnover has increased according to plan by 7.7% in comparison to the previous half-year, with the ramp-up of the third and fourth production lines completed in Shanghai and the expansion in India. The result for the second quarter was as much as 9% above the previous year’s value. The increase of the profit margins, in particular the gross margin to 18.7% in the second quarter (half-year cumulative figure: 16.9%) but also the EBIT margin to 10.2% (half-year cumulative figure: 9.3%) can be attributed both to a good productmix and also to the plant in Shanghai which is working at full capacity without any further start-up costs to be taken into consideration presently. In addition to AT&S’s operating performance, the financial income, driven by profits from hedging activities, also contributed to the improved earnings which have risen by 237% in the past half-year. The financial result, which is just over 2 million euro, is almost 6 million euro higher than in the first half-year of 2003/04. The presentation of results and the half year financial statement in Excel (excl. notes) can be found from 08:00 hrs. (CET) today on http://www.ats.net (Investors). The half year report will be available as a pdf document from the beginning of November 2004. You may obtain further information from René Berger, IRO, Tel. +43-1-68300-9215, E-Mail: r.berger@ats.net. ——————————————————————————– WKN: 922230; ISIN: AT0000969985; Index: TecDAX, NEMAX 50 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 210729 Okt 04