EANS-News: BAUER Aktiengesellschaft
Bauer AG presents nine-months report
Schrobenhausen (euro adhoc) -
Total Group revenues down 15.0 percent to EUR 944.5 million. After-tax profit of EUR 30.0 million, 55.8 percent down on year-on-year. Professor Bauer considers economic crisis to have bottomed out and expects stabilization at low levels. Forecast for 2009 reaffirmed: total Group revenues of just under EUR 1.3 billion and after-tax profit around a third of the previous year's level expected.
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quarterly report
Subtitle: Total Group revenues down 15.0 percent to EUR 944.5 million. After-tax profit of EUR 30.0 million, 55.8 percent down on year-on-year. Professor Bauer considers economic crisis to have bottomed out and expects stabilization at low levels. Forecast for 2009 reaffirmed: total Group revenues of just under EUR 1.3 billion and after-tax profit around a third of the previous year's level expected.
November 13, 2009 - The economic crisis has had a substantial impact on the company's revenues and earnings in the first nine months of the year.
Total Group revenues at the end of the first three quarters were EUR 944.5 million, 15.0 percent down against the previous year comparative figure. EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) was EUR 60.0 million (previous year: EUR 108.4 million). After-tax profit for the first three quarters fell correspondingly by EUR 37.8 million, or 55.8 percent, to EUR 30.0 million. The Group's orders in hand as per September 30 totalled EUR 543.0 million, 28.3 percent less than at the same date last year. The BAUER Group worldwide employed 8,685 people on average between January and September (previous year: 8,103).
Business segments
The Group's strategic focus on its three business segments - Construction, Equipment and Resources - combined with its global presence is proving advantageous in the current market situation.
The Construction segment is having a stabilizing effect on the Group as a whole, and is withstanding the economic crisis quite successfully. Tough market conditions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East are being well balanced out by construction projects in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Western Europe, which are also being driven by economic stimulus packages. Following on from a boom year with an extraordinarily high number of large-scale projects, the 19.6 percent fall in revenues to EUR 418.2 million is a result primarily of normal fluctuations in the construction business. EBIT of EUR 20.5 million was 30.1 percent down (previous year: EUR 29.3 million). Orders in hand were 21.5 percent down against the previous year at EUR 349.5 million (previous year: EUR 445.4 million), but have so far remained virtually constant over the year.
In the Equipment segment, the selling problems brought about by the economic crisis hit home in the third quarter. Total Group revenues in the segment for the first nine months were EUR 472.2 million, down 17.1 percent. The segment's orders in hand fell by 58.6 percent to EUR 114.3 million (previous year: EUR 276.3 million), and covered an advance period of approximately two months. There is very little demand for smaller standard equipment at present. Orders over recent months have been mostly for larger specialist machinery, where Bauer is able to profit from its competitive edge. EBIT totalled EUR 38.7 million (previous year: EUR 79.6 million), down 51.4 percent against the previous year's comparative period ? and this trend will continue through the fourth quarter.
The strategy of the BAUER Group in establishing the Resources segment as a key new pillar of the business for the future is proving to be the right one. In the first nine months the total Group revenues of the recently created segment performed strongly, increasing by more than a third to EUR 117.3 million (previous year: EUR 87.2 million). Alongside a major project in Oman, key drivers of this performance were the mining sector as well as new orders for well engineering materials. The integration of the newly acquired SITE Group in Jordan is also progressing positively. With EBIT of EUR 2.8 million (previous year: EUR 1.2 million), the segment significantly improved its contribution to Group profits.
Outlook
Following the dramatic collapse since the end of last year, Chairman of the Management Board Professor Thomas Bauer now believes the economic crisis has bottomed out: "Overall, we are cautiously optimistic that the ongoing trend is beginning to stabilize, although at a much lower level." He asserts that effective measures such as the cut-backs in temporary staff, the introduction of short-time working in almost all the company's plants and - not least - the improved efficiency being delivered by the new production facilities have turned the BAUER Group's fortunes around. "Although Resources is not yet of the necessary size to balance out the cyclic declines in the other segments, it is bucking the trend in the growth it is achieving. We believe we have good chances of acquiring a number of major construction contracts for which we are currently tendering. In the Equipment segment, I expect to see positive impetus over the coming year from the marketing of our deep-level drilling rigs which are currently undergoing testing."
BAUER AG is keeping to its full-year forecast, predicting total Group revenues of just under EUR 1.3 billion (previous year: EUR 1.5 billion). According to the latest calculations, profit after tax will fall to around one-third of the previous-year figure of EUR 107.5 million.
Our full Interim Report, including a detailed analysis of the individual segments and markets, can be found on our website at http://www.bauer.de.
About Bauer
Bauer is a provider of services, machinery and ancillary products in the earth- working and groundwater fields. The Group markets its products and services all over the world. Its global spread allows it to remain largely unaffected by fluctuating business cycles.
The operations of the Group are divided into three segments: Construction, Equipment and Resources. The Construction segment carries out specialist foundation engineering work all over the world, developing foundation and excavation projects as well as providing related construction services. In its Equipment segment, in which it is the world market leader, Bauer offers an extensive range of machinery, equipment and tools for specialist foundation engineering. The Resources segment encompasses the Group's operations in the exploitation of raw materials, in environmental technology, in geothermal drilling operations and also in equipment for wells (including pumps and drills, screens and casings).
Bauer profits greatly from the collaboration between its three separate segments, enabling the Group to position itself as an innovative, highly specialized provider of complete solutions and services for demanding projects on the specialist foundation engineering and related markets.
Founded in 1790, Bauer today generates more than two thirds of its total revenues outside of Germany. Employing some 8,600 people, the Group's total revenues in 2008 were EUR 1.53 billion (previous year: EUR 1.2 billion). BAUER Aktiengesellschaft has been listed on the official market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 4, 2006 (Prime Standard, ISIN DE0005168108).
Contact Bettina Erhart / Christopher Wolf Investor Relations BAUER Aktiengesellschaft BAUER-Strasse 1 86529 Schrobenhausen, Germany Phone: +49 8252 97 1918 Fax: +49 8252 97 2900 Mobile: +49 171 755 9210 e-mail: investor.relations@bauer.de Internet: http://www.bauer.de
GROUP KEY FIGURES January - September 2009 (IFRS)
| |Jan-Sep 2008 |Jan-Sep 2009 |Change | | |in EUR million |in EUR million | | |Total Group revenues* |1,111.8 |944.5 |-15.0 % | |of which | | | | |- Germany |264.6 |273.9 |3.5 % | |- International |847.2 |670.6 |-20.8 % | |of which | | | | |- Construction |520.1 |418.2 |-19.6 % | |- Equipment |569.5 |472.2 |-17.1 % | |- Resources |87.2 |117.3 |34.6 % | |- Other/Elim./Consol. |-65.0 |-63.2 |n/a | |Consolidated revenues |1,073.6 |896.3 |-16.5 % | |Sales revenues |930.2 |782.2 |-15.9 % | |Orders received |1,251.4 |815.9 |-34.8 % | |Orders in hand |757.7 |543.0 |-28.3 % | |EBITDA |149.3 |110.0 |-26.3 % | |EBITDA margin |16.0 % |14.1 % |n/a | |(as % of sales revenues) | | | | |EBIT |108.4 |60.0 |-44.6 % | |EBIT margin |11.7 % |7.7 % |n/a | |(as % of sales revenues) | | | | |Net profit or loss** |67.8 |30.0 |-55.8 % | |Shareholders' equity |330.6 |383.1 |15.9 % | |Equity ratio in % |31.7 % |30.5 % |n/a | |Earnings per share in EUR*** |3.81 |1.68 |-55.9 % | |Employees |8,103 |8,685 |7.2 % |
* At variance with the consolidated revenues presented in the Group income statement, the total Group revenues presented here include portions of revenues from associated companies as well as revenues of non-consolidated subsidiaries and joint ventures.
** Before minority interests
*** Diluted and basic
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Bettina Erhart / Christopher Wolf
Investor Relations
Telefon: +49(0)8252 97 1918
E-Mail: investor.relations@bauer.de
Branche: Construction & Property
ISIN: DE0005168108
WKN: 516810
Index: MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
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