EANS-Adhoc: Westag & Getalit AG
Earnings down moderately on 11% decline in
sales in 2009; Proposed dividend: EUR 0.94 per ordinary share and EUR 1.00 EUR
per preference share
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.
18.03.2010
Sales revenues of Westag & Getalit AG declined by 11.0% to EUR 201.4 million in what was an extremely difficult environment in 2009 (previous year: EUR 226.2 million). Export sales dropped particularly sharply by 29.1% to EUR 39.2 million (previous year: EUR 55.4 million). The export share stood at 19.5% in 2009 (previous year: 24.5%). Against this background, it is gratifying to see that earnings before income tax declined only moderately to EUR 14.9 million (previous year: EUR 15.3 million). While the drop in sales weighed on the bottom line, a number of strict cost-cutting measures had a positive impact on earnings. Accordingly, net profit declined only moderately to EUR 10.5 million (previous year: EUR 10.8 million). Net profit per share amounted to EUR 1.84 in the fiscal year (previous year: EUR 1.89).
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of EUR 0.94 per ordinary share (previous year: EUR 0.44) and of EUR 1.00 per preference share (previous year: EUR 0.50) to the Annual General Meeting scheduled to take place in Rheda-Wiedenbrück on August 24, 2010. By proposing this greatly increased dividend, we want to express the restored confidence in the financial systems.
At the same time, the Management Board today announced, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, that the repurchase of preference shares in the company, which was announced on January 12, 2010 and was originally scheduled to end on March 17, 2010, will be continued until August 6, 2010. Between January 13, 2010 and March 17, 2010, the company repurchased 103.990 preference shares.
The outlook for construction activity in Germany remains weak. While the government´s stimulus packages should provide some support, the continued uncertainty among consumers and companies suggests that the environment for the construction industry will remain recessionary. The situation is even more difficult in European markets outside Germany, which were hit much harder by the crisis in 2009 and where there are no signs of a potential recovery. It is unlikely that we will be able to isolate ourselves from these problems. With sales declining by 8% in the first two months, we therefore had a moderate start to the fiscal year, which was not least attributable to the extremely cold winter, though. We do not expect sales to drop much further in 2010, as we have both interesting new products and promising new customers. On the cost side, the prices of raw materials, in particular, are likely to pick up again. While we will continue to take strict counter-measures, we expect earnings to fall short of the prior year level from today´s point of view. We nevertheless believe that earnings will be in an appropriate relation with sales. Should an upswing materialise unexpectedly in 2010, we will benefit to an above-average extent thanks to our excellent potential.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Felix Huisgen
Tel.: +49 (0)5242 17 5350
E-Mail: huisgen@westag-getalit.de
Branche: Building materials
ISIN: DE0007775207
WKN: 777520
Index: Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Berlin / free trade
Stuttgart / free trade
Düsseldorf / regulated dealing