KRONES AG — Earnings Release 2004

Apr 28, 2004

News Details

Corporate | 28 April 2004 10:30

KRONES rides the upturn – Report for the 1st quarter of 2004

Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– KRONES rides the upturn – Report for the 1st quarter of 2004 1st quarter sees increased order bookings, sales revenues and profits The year has started well for KRONES. Despite gloomy prognoses for the German economy, the world’s market leader for beverage filling and packaging machinery benefited increasingly from the global upturn in the year’s first quarter. Three large orders – one from the American brewing group Anheuser Busch, one from Danone for bottling Evian water, and one from Beer Thai in Thailand (one of the biggest orders in KRONES’ entire history) – exemplify a perceptible uptrend. As corporate investment levels began gradually to recover, KRONES experienced buoyant demand for its machines, lines and services during the first three months of the ongoing business year. Order bookings rose by 8.0 % on a like-for- like basis to reach EUR 406 m (preceding year: EUR 376 m). Sales revenues in the KRONES Group during 2004’s first quarter, at EUR 388 m, were 6% up on he preceding year’s figure (EUR 367 m). Against the background of a significantly worse price situation than in the previous year, profits after taxes were 3 % up at EUR 16.3 m. For 2004 as a whole, KRONES is anticipating new bests for its business figures. The very good business outlook and the prospect of the AGM’s approving the conversion of KRONES’ preference shares into ordinary shares had already boosted the prices of the shares traded on the MDAX, up by a substantial 25 % since the beginning of 2004 to reach their highest level for many years. 1st q.04 1st q. 03 Change Sales revenues EUR m 387.8 367.0 5.7% Profit after taxes EUR m 16.3 15.9 2.5% Order bookings accumulated EUR m 405.7 376.0 7.9% Orders on hand as per 31.03.04 EUR m 637.2 622.9 2.3% Investments EUR m 7.7 12.6 -38.9% EBIT EUR m 26.8 28.3 -5.3% Cash flow EUR m 25.8 25.6 0.8% Earnings per share* EUR 1.55 1.51 2.6% Employees on 31.03.04 KRONES domestic 7,230 7,256 -0.4% KRONES group 8,655 8,701 -0.5 * diluted/undiluted The KRONES Group – a brief profile: The KRONES Group, headquartered in Neutraubling/Upper Palatinate, plans, develops and manufactures machines and complete lines for bottling, canning and packaging operations in the beverage, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. It has plants in Neutraubling, Nittenau, Flensburg, Freising and Rosenheim. Besides KRONES AG (MDAX), the group comprises the production subsidiaries Steinecker (brewing technology), Sander Hansen (pasteurisers), Syskron (process automation) and Kosme (machines for the lower speed range) plus more than 40 companies abroad, who also assure comprehensive service support during a line’s entire lifetime. With 8,690 employees, the group’s turnover was a good 1.4 billion euros in 2003. You will also find this press release for downloading on the internet under http://www.krones.com . end of message, (c)DGAP 28.04.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 633500; ISIN: DE0006335003; Index: MDAX Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard) und München; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg und Stuttgart 281030 Apr 04