BÿWE Group achieves significant progress in debt reduction in the
third quarter 2009
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Positive operating cash flow* Total debt reduced by EUR 29.5 million and thus by more than 10%* Number of employees reduced by 10% compared with previous year* Tense order intake, sales and earnings situation* Strong order intake at the end of the quarter* Sale of the Scanner business unit in the USA completedIn the third quarter of the current fiscal year the BÿWE Groupcompleted another important step towards securing the Group'sfinancing and the related objective of reducing the level of debt.New financing made available to the BÿWE Group by German banksallowed for the early repayment of a loan that had been taken up inconnection with the acquisition of shares in BÿWE BELL+HOWELL andwould have become repayable in November. In this context therepayment figure was approx. EUR 10 million below the amount of theexisting liability. Group net debt reduced accordingly by the sameamount.Overall debt has been lowered by EUR 29.5 million in total in thefirst three quarters. In addition to the repayment of the US loan, aparticular contribution towards this reduction was made by a positiveoperating cash flow in all three quarters of the current fiscal year.In addition, the sale of the Scanner business unit was completed inthe quarter just past. The cash inflow generated by this was alsoused to reduce the financial liabilities.In parallel with the development of the global economy the order booksituation of the BÿWE Group has continued to clearly deterioratecompared with the previous year. At EUR 256.9 million group orderintakes in the first nine months of 2009 were approx. 20% below theorder intakes in the corresponding period of 2008 (EUR (322.4million). However, the Group posted a pleasing order intake at thePrint 09 sector trade fair and during the month of September.As a result of the slow economy, consolidated sales by the BÿWE Groupin the first nine months of 2009 at EUR 272.6 million weredisappointing. Compared with the corresponding period for the firstthree quarters of 2008 (EUR 306.0 million) this represented a fall ofEUR 33.4 million or approx. 11%. By far the largest part of thereduction came in the third quarter which posted sales 27% down onthe figure for the previous year. By contrast, sales in the firsthalf-year were just 2% down on the level for the previous year.A group-wide increased efficiency program was started at the end ofthe 2008 fiscal year designed to increase the profitability andenhance the competitiveness of the BÿWE Group. As a result of theassociated structural adjustments in employee numbers, particularlyin the USA, there was a fall of 10% in the number of employeescompared with the end of September 2008.Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) in thefirst nine months of 2009 came in at EUR 22.3 million compared withEUR 24.9 million in the first three quarters of 2008. BÿWE SYSTECimproved the EBITDA for the third quarter by EUR 1.7 million thanksto the abovementioned one-off effects, to EUR 9.7 million.Despite the marked reduction in debt, interest charges increased overthe previous year. As a result of the simultaneous reduction inoperating results, the first nine months of 2009 produced a netresult of EUR -3.1 million compared to EUR 3.2 million in the ninemonth period of 2008. As in the previous year the BÿWE Group posted aprofit of EUR 1.0 million in its net result for the quarter.OutlookAgainst the background of markedly less willingness to invest, thecorporate planning for the 2009 fiscal year had forecast a reductionin sales to a level of approx. EUR 400 million. Also as a result ofthe deconsolidation of the Scanner business unit the sales target hadto be adjusted by the annual sales envisaged for this business unit.Taking into account the deconsolidation, the weak sales in the thirdquarter and the recent noticeable return to a weaker US dollar, asales range of between EUR 350 and 375 million now appears realistic.In view of the fact that sales are below target and as a result ofthe restructuring costs incurred in 2009, we expect an improvement inthe EBITDA margin of between 2 and 3 percentage points compared withthe previous year to an anticipated 6.5 to 7.5%. The development ofcosts below the EBITDA is expected to continue approximately on alinear basis over the remaining months of the year.+---------------------------------------------------------------+| Quarterly financial statement | Third Quarter | 9 months || according to IFRS | | ||-------------------------------+---------------+---------------|| Financial Year | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| Order intake (Mil. EUR) | 107.6 | 86.9 | 322.4 | 256.9 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| Order backlog (Mil. EUR) | - | - | 78.8 | 44.5 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| Sales (Mil. EUR) | 106.6 | 77.4 | 306.0 | 272.6 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| EBITDA (Mil. EUR) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 24.9 | 22.3 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| EBIT (Mil. EUR) | 4.1 | 5.0 | 13.3 | 8.1 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| EBT (Mil. EUR) | 0.7 | 0.5 | 3.0 | -4.8 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| Net results (Mil. EUR) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.2 | -3.1 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| EPS (EUR) | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.03 | -0.88 ||-------------------------------+--------+------+-------+-------|| Employees (September 30th) | - | - | 3,714 | 3,347 |+---------------------------------------------------------------+BÿWE SYSTEC AGThe Boardhttp://hugin.info/130395/R/1352651/327358.pdfhttp://hugin.info/130395/R/1352651/327359.pdf --- End of Message ---BÿWE SYSTEC AGInvestor Relations
Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 1 Augsburg WKN: 523970 ; ISIN: DE0005239701; Index: CDAX, CLASSIC All Share, Prime All Share;Listed: Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin, Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart, Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf, Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Regulierter Markt in Bayerische Börse München, Regulierter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;
Datum: 05.11.2009 - 08:40 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 7950
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Town:
London
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 251 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"BÿWE Group achieves significant progress in debt reduction in the
third quarter 2009"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
BÿWE SYSTEC AG (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
