CANCOM SE — Earnings Release 2003

May 13, 2003

News Details

Ad-hoc | 13 May 2003 08:29

Cancom IT Systeme AG english

CANCOM IT Systeme AG presents results for first quarter of 2003 Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– CANCOM IT Systeme AG presents results for 1. quarter of 2003 Jettingen-Scheppach, Germany, 13 May 2003: The consolidated sales of CANCOM Group (ISIN: DE0005419105) in the 1. quarter of 2003 amounted to Euro 53.7 mill., compared with Euro 67.6 mill. in Q1/2002. In Q1/2002, sales were unusually high owing to the introduction of a new Apple model series. Since, as past experience has shown, a new Apple generation can be expected approx. every 18 months, this means there is the potential for additional sales in the 2. half of 2003. The lower quarterly sales also reflect the reluctance of CANCOM’s customers to invest as a result of the difficult political and economic conditions. On top of this, the Group has been rigorously practising a policy of discontinuing unprofitable business, which resulted in a decline in sales in Q1 by about 5 per cent, but did not have any negative impact on the result. Consolidated EBITDA in Q1/2003 were Euro 0.5 mill., compared with Euro 0.7 mill. in Q1/2002. The Group made negative EBIT of Euro 0.1 mill. in Q1, which represents a slight worsening of the negative earnings of Euro 0.02 mill. achieved in Q1/2002. However, the consolidated loss of Euro 0.1 mill. was an improvement on the loss of Euro 0.3 mill. in Q1/2002. As shown by the operating result for Q1/2003 – which, despite the fall in sales, is approximately the same as last year – the steps taken to reduce costs have begun to have a positive impact on CANCOM’s cost structure. By optimising its asset management, the company has managed to achieve an additional increase in the consolidated equity ratio in Q1/2003, from 47.4 to 51.2 per cent. The Executive Board expects a recovery in Group sales in the 2. half of 2003, both because of the anticipated introduction of the latest product in the Apple product cycle and because the new version of the graphics program Quark is expected to be released in July. Since the current version of Quark is not compatible with Apple’s new operating system, OS X, many companies have postponed the purchase of new Apple computers until the new version of Quark is introduced. Since the Group’s sales will tend to be shifted towards the 2. half of 2003, the Executive Board is confident with regard to both sales and operating result over the year as a whole. In the meantime, the company will continue to concentrate its efforts on improving the profit situation. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 13.05.2003 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 541910 ; ISIN: DE0005419105; Index: Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover und Stuttgart 130829 Mai 03