EANS-Adhoc: Westag & Getalit AG Sales up in first half of 2011; Profit growth
slowed down by rising commodities prices
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ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro
adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely
responsible for the content of this announcement.
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25.07.2011
Benefiting from the robust state of the German construction sector, Westag &
Getalit AG raised its sales in the first half of 2011 by 8.1% to just under EUR
111.6 million. Export business grew at a clearly disproportionate rate of 23.4%
to EUR 25.4 million. Accordingly, the export ratio advanced from last year´s
19.9% to 22.7%.
Earnings before income taxes came in at EUR 5.1 million, slightly up on the
prior-year figure of EUR 5.0 million. While profitability was supported by the
positive development on the sales side, it was clearly slowed down by the
renewed rise in commodities prices particularly in the area of wood, wood-based
materials and oil-based chemicals. Net profit for the half-year period rose in
parallel to pre-tax earnings, edging up from EUR 3.5 million to EUR 3.6 million.
Earnings per share amounted to 0.62 EUR.
The economic environment remains split into two different realities. Germany and
numerous Asian economies have been experiencing a quite robust upswing which has
even gained additional momentum in 2011. In many other European countries,
however, the recovery has subsided and the already existing crises in several
countries have worsened further. Against this background, it is difficult to
forecast our business trend. Even so, we expect to post sales growth for the
full year 2011. Despite the challenging environment, we believe that we will be
able to grow our international business at a disproportionate rate during this
period.
Providing profit guidance has also become much more difficult this year. This is
because of the continued rise in commodities prices which already impacted our
results in the first half of the year. Apart from making consistent use of all
saving potentials, we will continue our efforts to impose effective price
increases for our products. Against the background of our strengths in terms of
product range, sales power, employees and cost awareness, we are confident that
we will be able to generate good results also during the current financial year,
whereby expections are somewhat subdued due to the high cost of raw materials.
Further inquiry note:
Felix Huisgen
Tel.: +49 (0)5242 17 5350
E-Mail: huisgen@westag-getalit.de
end of announcement euro adhoc
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issuer: Westag & Getalit AG
Hellweg 15
D-33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück
phone: +49 (0)5242 17 0
FAX: +49 (0)5242 17 75000
mail: ir@westag-getalit.de
WWW: http://www.westag-getalit.de
sector: Building materials
ISIN: DE0007775207, DE0007775231
indexes: Prime All Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin,
Stuttgart, regulated dealing: Düsseldorf
language: English
ad-hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15 of the WpHG transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 11.02.2011 In the fiscal year 2010, Westag & Getalit AG was able to increase its sales revenues by 7.6% to EUR ...