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quarterly report
Wien (euro adhoc) - Kapsch TrafficCom enjoys a stronger balance sheet despite
weaker results in the first quarter of 2012/13
- Decline in sales and negative result
- Balance sheet figures improved significantly due to project completion
- Focus remains on large projects in Poland and South Africa
- Growth strategy confirmed by new orders
2012/13 Q1: 1 April - 30 June 2012 2012/13 Q1 2011/12 Q1 2010/11 Q1
Revenues (in million EUR) 106.4 134.7 66.3
EBIT (in million EUR) -5.6 22.2 4.8
Profit for the period (in million EUR) -4.4 13.9 4.5
Profit per share (in EUR) -0.46 0.91 0.22
Free cash flow (in million EUR) 74.6 -9.0 3.2
Vienna, August 24, 2012 - Kapsch TrafficCom AG (ISIN AT000KAPSCH9), listed in
the Prime Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange, experienced a heterogeneous first
quarter in fiscal year 2012/13. While the developments in the two ongoing
projects in Poland and South Africa led to disappointing revenues and results
during the reporting period, the significant improvement in the key balance
sheet figures reconfirmed the financial strength of the Kapsch TrafficCom Group.
The revenues of the Kapsch TrafficCom Group amounted to EUR 106.4 million, or
21.1 % below the value of the same period in the previous year (2011/12 Q1: EUR
134.7 million). The EBIT in the first quarter of 2012/13 was negative at EUR
-5.6 million, down from EUR 22.2 million in the first quarter of 2011/12.
In South Africa, the start of the electronic toll collection system for
multi-lane free-flow traffic in the Gauteng province was suspended indefinitely
shortly before the planned commissioning at the end of April due to a lawsuit.
The government has appealed this decision, and the first hearings were held on
15 August 2012.
The nationwide electronic toll collection system in Poland went into operation
in July 2011, and the system acceptance took place on 21 February 2012. In the
first quarter of the current fiscal year, Kapsch TrafficCom was contracted with
an extension of 320 km, and additional route sections are expected to follow in
2013. The company also received payment for the final milestone of the system
installation. However, performance related issues resulted in higher operating
costs during the reporting period, which had a negative impact on the result.
The developments of both of these major projects had a pronounced effect on the
first quarter of 2012/13. At the same time, the changes to the key figures
reflect the project-related volatility in the balance sheet and results.
Comparisons between individual quarters are therefore of only limited value, and
the company itself evaluates its success based on the year-end result.
Revenues and earnings
In the segment Road Solution Projects (RSP), the two implementation projects in
Poland and South Africa were associated with high revenues in the first quarter
of the previous year. The newly begun projects were unable to compensate for
this during the reporting period, and revenues declined as a result by 36.3 %
from EUR 54.8 million to EUR 34.9 million. In consequence, the company was not
able to fully cover its costs, and the EBIT in the segment RSP was therefore
negative at EUR -7.2 million.
In the segment Services, System Extensions, Components Sales (SEC), revenues
declined by 13.8 %, from EUR 78.5 million in the same quarter of the previous
year to EUR 67.7 million. The contract negotiations with the individual
authorities of the E-ZPass Group for finalization of the ten-year agreement
resulted in on-board unit sales lagging behind the expected quantities. The
competitive pricing, which brought the margins in the U.S.A. down in line with
typical global margins, for this order also weighed on the result. The volume of
delivered on-board units in the first quarter of 2012/13 was 1.7 million,
following 2.8 million in the same period of the previous year. The suspended
commissioning of the project in South Africa also negatively impacted revenues.
The operation project in Poland, on the other hand, made a considerable revenue
contribution. The decline of the segment EBIT from EUR 18.5 million in the
previous year to EUR 1.6 million can be attributed largely to the reduced sale
of on-board units, the lost revenues from the South African project and the
performance related higher operation costs in Poland.
Financial position and cash flows
The key balance sheet figures improved significantly in the first quarter of
fiscal year 2012/13 owing to conclusion of the implementation project in Poland
and the associated payment. The total assets declined due to the reduction of
trade receivables as well as, in particular, due to the decrease in current
financial liabilities with respect to the year-end closing date of 31 March
2012, falling from EUR 557.7 million to EUR 499.0 million. Total equity declined
only slightly, producing an increase in the equity ratio from 45.9 % to 49.6 %.
The free cash flow grew to EUR 74.6 million as a result of these developments,
whereas this figure was negative at EUR -9.0 million in the comparison quarter
of the previous year. Despite the corporate bond due in 2017, the Kapsch
TrafficCom Group had net assets of EUR 0.2 million at the end of the first
quarter, while the net working capital decreased from EUR 285.7 million as of 31
March 2012 to EUR 199.1 million on 30 June 2012. Cash and cash equivalents at
the end of the quarter had increased to EUR 77.4 million. These significant
changes demonstrate that Kapsch TrafficCom enjoys a solid balance sheet
structure that will enable the company to maintain its focus on investments in
research and development as well as new projects despite a short-term dip in
profit.
Outlook
At the end of July, Kapsch TrafficCom was selected as supplier for a complete
system in Texas. In the coming years, two highways in northern Texas will see
implementation of what is called a "managed lane" system, which encompasses a
toll collection system, an intelligent transportation system and a network
communication system. It will be one of the newest and most modern
transportation systems in North America. The executive board views this as a
reinforcement of the growth strategy as well as confirmation of the assumption
that, in addition to toll collection systems, demand for integrated systems
consisting of various ITS applications will increase in the future.
As part of a large project in Belarus, the installation of a nationwide
electronic toll collection system will begin in autumn, and associated revenues
will be reflected on the balance sheet as of the second half of the current
fiscal year. In addition, the company expects decisions on other potential
projects during the course of the current fiscal year. In order to continue the
planned growth with regard to new projects and new markets, the Kapsch
TrafficCom Group is also working intensively on implementation of the 2016
strategy and the new company structure this entails.
The report on the first quarter of the fiscal year 2012/13 can be downloaded
from
http://www.kapsch.net/en/ktc/investor_relations/financial_information/Pages/default.aspx.
Kapsch TrafficCom is a provider of high-performance intelligent transportation
systems (ITS) in the application fields of toll collection, urban access
management and traffic safety and security. Kapsch TrafficCom covers the entire
value creation chain of its customers as a one-stop shop by providing products
and components as well as subsystems as open market products, by integrating
them into turnkey systems or by developing end-to-end solutions, including
services for the technical and commercial operations of systems. Within its
current core business of electronic toll collection (ETC), Kapsch TrafficCom
designs, builds and operates ETC systems, in particular for multi-lane free-flow
traffic. With 280 references in 41 countries on all 5 continents and with almost
70 million on-board units delivered and about 18,000 lanes equipped, Kapsch
TrafficCom has positioned itself among the internationally recognized suppliers
of electronic toll collection worldwide. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in
Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 30
countries.
For additional information: www.kapsch.net and www.kapschtraffic.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/kapschnet
Further inquiry note:
Marcus Handl
Investor Relations Officer
Kapsch TrafficCom AG
Am Europlatz 2, 1120 Vienna, Austria
Phone +43 50 811 1120
Email ir.kapschtraffic@kapsch.net
Katharina Riedl
Spokesperson
Kapsch AG
Am Europlatz 2, 1120 Vienna, Austria
Phone +43 50 811 1705
Email katharina.riedl@kapsch.net
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Kapsch TrafficCom AG
Am Europlatz 2
A-1121 Wien
phone: +43 1 50811 1122
FAX: +43 1 50811 99 1122
mail: ir.kapschtraffic@kapsch.net
WWW: www.kapschtraffic.com
sector: Technology
ISIN: AT000KAPSCH9
indexes: Prime Market
stockmarkets: official market: Wien
language: English