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euro adhoc: Rosenbauer International AG
Annual Reports
• Revenue and result at the expected level • Dividend proposal: EUR 2.0 per share • Slightly higher Group revenues and a result for 2005 at the same levels as last year expected

Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc.
  The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement.
29.04.2005
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KEY FIGURES                                     2004  2003
Revenue                                 in mEUR 299.4 323.0
EBIT                                    in mEUR 13.7  19.2
EBT                                     in mEUR 10.5  15.9
Consolidated result                     in mEUR 8.7   6.8
Cash flow from operating activities     in mEUR 16.3  2.6
Balance sheet total                     in mEUR 161.3 164.7
Equity in % of the balance sheet total          34.4% 31.1%
Investments                             in mEUR 5.6   7.4
Earnings per share                      EUR     5.1   4.0
Dividend per share                      EUR     2.0   1.5
Employees                                       1,376 1,313
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At EUR 299.4 m, Group revenues last year were below the previous
year's figure (2003: EUR 323.0 m), owing to the absence of major
orders. Despite higher revenues in the US market, in 2004 the Group's
revenues were also adversely affected by the slump in the US dollar,
which caused lower euro amounts to be reported in the Group balance
sheet.
2004 was characterised by a large number of individual orders. In
relation to their size, individual orders generally cause higher
production costs than major orders, as certain economies of scale -
in terms of both purchasing and manufacturing - no longer apply here.
The result - with EBIT of EUR 13.7 m (2003: EUR 19.2 m) - was
considerably below the record figures for 2002 and 2003. As the
finance cost of EUR -3.2 m was almost unchanged from the year before
(2003: EUR -3.3 m), the drop in EBT to EUR 10.5 m (2003: EUR 15.9 m)
paralleled the decrease in EBIT.
ORDERS 
At EUR 337.0 m (2003: EUR 300.9 m), the volume of new orders taken by
the Group in 2004 was well above the level of the past two years. In
the current financial year, this has led to a gratifyingly high
degree of capacity utilisation, especially at the production
facilities in Austria and the USA. At EUR 226.1 m (2003: EUR 191.8
m), the volume of orders on hand at the year-end also reached a
higher level than the previous year, despite the stepped-up shipments
taking place shortly before the year-end 2004.
DIVIDEND PROPOSAL 
The Supervisory Board and the Executive Board are committed to the
Rosenbauer share as a dividend-paying stock. This investor-friendly
dividend policy is based on Management's confidence that the leading
international market position of the Rosenbauer Group can be extended
still further in the next few years, hand-in-hand with a consistently
positive course of business.
Thanks to the past few years' good results, we have succeeded in
lifting the equity ratio above the target value of 30%, reaching a
figure of 34.4% by the year-end 2004. This creates scope for a
further increase in the dividend. The Executive Board thus proposes
to the General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 2.0 per share should be
distributed for the financial year 2004, an increase of EUR 0.5 on
that for the previous year.
OUTLOOK
The trend in incoming orders in international project business also
presented a positive picture in the second half of 2004, meaning that
capacity utilisation at Rosenbauer International AG - the bulk of
whose business is in export markets - is assured for 2005.
In Europe, the market is currently being shaped by two influencing
factors: As a result of corporate mergers, competitors are now
appearing at international tenders, increasing the pressure on prices
still further. What is more, business in Germany - Europe’s biggest
single market - is still contracting. It is thus started to trim
capacity at Metz Aerials in Karlsruhe this year. Even though it is
reasonable to assume that German fire brigades now have a relatively
high backlog of demand for new vehicles, the timelagged nature of
procurement in the fire-fighting sector means that in this market, no
recovery is yet in sight.
In the USA, demand in both the municipal and export sectors continues
at a high level. 2005 may thus be expected to see a continuation of
this gratifying revenue and results trend.
China, a market on which Rosenbauer has been active as an exporter
since as long ago as 1926, is definitely the growth market of the
future, for the fire-equipment sector as well. China accounts for
around 5 % of Rosenbauer International AG's export revenues over the
past four years. In view of the increasing importance of local
value-addition, Rosenbauer established for the local market a joint
venture with a Chinese partner at the beginning of 2005. The business
licence for the joint venture, to be named "Rosenbauer YongQiang
Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd.", is expected to be issued in May
2005.
In the interim, our Chinese partner has made a start on building the
production facilities, and the first vehicles should roll off the
production line before the year is out. The size of China's locally
produced fire-fighting vehicle park is expected to double in the next
few years.
Alongside a large number of individual orders, in 2005 there will
once again be some interesting major orders under which shipments
will be made. The restructuring currently underway at Metz Aerials in
Karlsruhe is weighing somewhat on this year's result. Management thus
expects that although 2005 will see slightly higher Group revenues
(2004: EUR 299.4 m), the result will be at roughly the same level as
last year's (EBT 2004: EUR 10.5 m).
end of announcement                    euro adhoc 29.04.2005 07:30:00 

Further inquiry note:

For more information please contact:
Robert Kastil (Member of the Exectutive Board)
Gerda Königstorfer (Investor Relations)
Tel: +43 732 6794-568
Mobile: 43/664 4547636
Email: gerda.koenigstorfer@rosenbauer.com

Branche: Machine Manufacturing
ISIN: AT0000922554
WKN: 092255
Index: WBI, ATX Prime
Börsen: Berliner Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Wiener Börse AG / official dealing

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