euro adhoc: IVU Traffic Technologies AG
Annual Reports
2004
Annual Report
Weaker revenues
Substantial cost cuts
Operating result close to the black again
Result forecast for 2005: EUR1 to 2 million
Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
02.03.2005
IVU Traffic Technologies AG made enormous strides forward during the 2004 business year in its efforts to restructure the company, as revealed by the annual report, which was adopted today by the Supervisory Board of the Berlin software company. The EUR 26.8 million in revenues were 10% lower than in the previous year and thus weaker than anticipated. At the same time, IVU make deep cuts in its costs, which improved the operating result, leaving it at a mere EUR -400,000. IVU estimates that it will earn EUR 1 to 2 million in operating profit not considering severance payments.
Personnel expenditures over the 12-month period dropped another 14% percent to EUR 16.7 million, which is a EUR 2.8 million reduction. However, the entire cost of the redundancy measure for the current year had already been allocated in 2004, which means that the profit and loss statement shows a personnel cost figure that is roughly EUR 1 million higher. In addition to personnel costs, 2004 also saw a EUR 1.4 million reduction in other operating expenses, i.e. the companys costs for property and equipment, which amounts to 21%. Unlike the operating result, both EBIT and the consolidated profit remained significantly negative, due to high depreciations, particularly in the area of services on the companys own account that were activated in the past. In addition, a one-time goodwill depreciation amounting to EUR 3.3 million was written off, which burdens the profit and loss statement.
"Considering the difficult economic climate that has left the public sector and especially local governments short on cash, we put up a good fight in 2004, even if we are not particularly happy with our revenue figures," said Prof. Dr. Ernst Denert, Chairman of the Executive Board of IVU. The revenue shortfall forced the company to make further cuts in personnel costs. As a result, 38 employees were laid off in 2005, 27 of them in Berlin and 11 in Aachen. Reductions in personnel expenses due to the layoffs will run to EUR 1.4 million in 2005 and EUR 2.1 million in 2006. However, the full impact of this measure on liquidity will not be felt until 2006, with only EUR0 0.4 million applying to 2005.
The companys target is to keep 2005 sales at least at the same level as in the previous year, there is a good chance that this target will be exceeded and reach around EUR 28 to 29 million. This situation, along with the redundancies and lower material costs, would result in an operating result between one and two million euros not considering severance payments, enough to finance necessary investments. The volume of orders at the beginning of 2005 is good, with new orders covering about 60% of the sales planned for 2005 as of 31 December 2004. As of 31 Dec. 2004, IVU held EUR 1.6 million in cash, EUR 2.7 million in available lines of credit, while another EUR0 0.9 million had been furnished as a deposit for guarantees. If the company earns between EUR 28 and 29 million in revenues, it will achieve sufficient liquidity in 2005.
On Wednesday, 9 March 2005, the complete report will be posted online at www.ivu.de.
end of announcement euro adhoc 02.03.2005 15:33:33
Further inquiry note:
Gerd Henghuber
Leiter Unternehmenskommunikation
Telefon: +40(0)30-85906-800
E-Mail: gh@ivu.de
Branche: Computing & Information Technology
ISIN: DE0007448508
WKN: 744850
Index: Prime Standard, Prime All Share, Technologie All Share, CDAX
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / regulated dealing
Berliner Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade
Bremer Wertpapierbörse (BWB) / free trade