Klöckner & Co - Excellent half year results
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Klöckner & Co - Excellent half year results
Marked improvement in results in first half year Positive share price development since IPO Reduction in liabilities Further expansion through acquisitions Positive outlook for whole year
Duisburg, August 29, 2006 - Quoted on the official Frankfurt securities market (Prime Standard) since June 28, 2006, the steel and multi metal distribution corporation Klöckner & Co has continued its successful course of development from the 2005 financial year into the first six months of 2006. The corporation has been able to improve all its major figures over those for the comparative period in the previous year; in its activities on the multi metal materials markets in Europe and North America, the Klöckner & Co Group has been able to benefit from the performance enhancement programs initiated in all corporate sectors last year and from excellent market developments in most steel and metal products.
On June 28 2006, in spite of the difficult market situation, Klöckner & Co was successfully launched on the stock market. There has been a positive development in the share price, which is now well over the issue price of 16 Euro.
By raising turnover in tons by 8.7%, Klöckner & Co were able to increase corporate sales by approx. 7.2% in the first half of 2006, reaching EUR2.7 billion. This increase in turnover and improved profit margins also brought about a sharp rise in gross proceeds for the Group. In the words of the Chairman of the Board of Management, Dr. Thomas Ludwig: "We are extremely satisfied with the excellent development in our business during the first half of the year. The performance enhancement programs we initiated in all corporate sectors last year and the continued implementation of our expansion strategy have clearly improved our competitive position. We will continue to consistently pursue this strategy in future."
Supported by the successfully initiated Star Performance Program, EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) recorded for the Group came to EUR 182.9 million and was thus clearly up by some EUR83.3 million on the comparative figure for the previous year before release of negative goodwill. The operating segments Europe and North America each returned clearly improved EBITDA figures over those for the previous year of EUR169.0 million (Europe) and EUR38.9 million (North America) respectively. Group EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) during the first six months of 2006 came to EUR53.8 million, which is an EUR87 million increase over the comparative figure for the first half of 2005 before release of negative goodwill. It was also possible to significantly increase Income Before Taxes by EUR96.5 million, reaching the EUR125.7 million mark. On the basis of these good results and the revenue from the stock market launch, the equity capital was raised from EUR323 million to EUR668 million. This produced a significantly increased equity ratio of 25%. On the cutoff date December 31, 2005 it was 14%. Net liabilities continued to fall consistently during the first half of 2006, reaching EUR482.2 million by the end of June which was considerably lower than the comparative figure of EUR719.4 million returned for the previous year.
Besides acquisition of the distributor corporation Targe in France, various attractive plans for acquisitions of strategic importance in Europe and North America were intensified during the first six months of 2006, which will lead to further purchases in the second half of the year. Thus, for example, two corporations for special steel were already acquired in Spain in July 2006. In addition, a contract has been signed to acquire the holding of a competitor with its head office in the Midwest, USA. The sales volume of this distributor corporation totaled EUR55 million in 2005.
Outlook
Further consistent implementation of the Star Performance Program and of the expansion strategy, coupled with the current trend and the forecasts given by consumer branches in those regions that are relevant for Klöckner & Co, give grounds to expect a continued positive course of business development for the second half of the year 2006. Against this background, the Group expects to return consolidated results for the whole of 2006 that are substantially higher than comparative figures for the previous year.
About Klöckner & Co:
Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent steel and metal distributor in the European and North American markets combined. The core business of the Klöckner & Co group is the storage and distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals. About 200,000 active customers are supplied through approximately 240 distribution locations in 14 countries in Europe and North America. Klöckner & Co was founded 100 years ago by Peter Klöckner. During the financial year 2005, the company achieved sales of approximately EUR5 billion with around 10,000 employees. The shares of Klöckner & Co Aktiengesellschaft are admitted to trading on the official market segment (Amtlicher Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with simultaneous admission to the sub-segment (Prime Standard) to the official market with further post-admission obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576.
Contacts: Peter Ringsleben, Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications
Klöckner & Co AG Am Silberpalais 1 D - 47057 Duisburg
Peter Ringsleben Phone: +49 203 307 2800 Fax: +49 203 307 5060 e-mail: peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de
Claudia Uhlendorf Phone: +49 203 307 2289 Fax: +49 203 307 5103 e-mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de
end of announcement euro adhoc 29.08.2006 08:27:27
Further inquiry note:
Claudia Uhlendorf
Public Relations
Telefon: +49(0)203-307-2289
E-Mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de
Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse / official dealing/prime standard
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