euro adhoc: Semperit AG Holding
Financial Figures/Balance Sheet
Semperit:
First half-year 2008 results
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6-month report
22.08.2008
. Revenue rose by 7.5% to EUR 326.4 million . EBIT improved by 12.3% to EUR 33.2 million . Satisfactory results for 2008 financial year expected
Vienna, August 22, 2008 - Despite a slowdown in the global economy and the difficult situation on raw material and currency markets, Semperit Group once again succeeded in increasing earnings and revenue in the first half of 2008, surpassing the performance of the preceding year.
| |1-6/2007 |1-6/2008 |Change in % | |Revenue in EUR million |303.6 |326.4 |+7.5 | |EBIT in EUR million |29.6 |33.2 |+12.3 | |EBT in EUR million |31.3 |32.2 |+2.7 | |Net profit for the period in EUR|22.8 |23.4 |+2.5 | |million | | | | Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) improved by 12.3%, to EUR 33.2 million. Total revenue rose by 7.5% to EUR 326.4 million. Rising raw material, energy and personnel costs led to a considerable rise in expenses. These price rises could be partially counteracted by efficiency improvements and cost savings. However, in many cases it was necessary to pass on the higher production costs to customers. The financial result in the first half of 2008 was negatively impacted by the required depreciation of financial assets in the first quarter. However, a considerably positive performance was achieved in the second quarter by reducing select financial positions and investing free cash flow on the money market. As a consequence, the financial result amounted to minus EUR 1.0 million for the first half year and earnings before tax (EBT) totalled EUR 32.2
million, a rise of 2.7%. Accordingly, the net profit for the period increased by 2.5% compared to the first half of 2007, to EUR 23.4 million.
Performance of the divisions
Despite high currency translation losses as a consequence of the weak US dollar, the Sempermed division reported a 3.2% increase in revenue in the first half of 2008, to EUR 111.3 million. Earnings before tax (EBT) of the Sempermed division improved by 16.2%, to EUR 6.4 million (previous year: EUR 5.5 million).
In the first half of 2008, total revenue of the Semperflex division rose by 6.7%, to EUR 89.3 million. Earnings before tax totalled EUR 11.3 million, or 5.8% above the previous year's level of EUR 10.7 million, despite being burdened by high raw material costs for rubber, carbon black and wires, as well as the increase in energy prices.
In the first half of 2008, total revenue of the Semperform division climbed 8.4%, to EUR 60.3 million. Earnings before tax improved by EUR 0.9 million, to EUR 9.2 million, which represents a rise of 10.6%.
The Sempertrans division once again posted the most dynamic growth in the Semperit Group in the first half of the 2008 financial year, with revenue climbing by 16.0%, to EUR 65.5 million. Earnings before tax rose from EUR 5.9 million, to EUR 7.5 million.
Outlook
The main challenge in the upcoming months will be to cope with the tremendous expenses resulting from further, massive raw material price increases in the best possible way. Overall the company is confident that it will be able to achieve satisfactory earnings even in the difficult 2008 financial year.
The complete half-year report is available under www.semperit.at.
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Further inquiry note:
Semperit AG Holding
Mag. Sybille Bernhardt
Investor Relations
Tel.: +43 1 79 777- 210
mailto:sybille.bernhardt@semperit.at
Branche: Synthetics & Plastics
ISIN: AT0000785555
WKN: 870378
Index: WBI, ATX Prime, ViDX
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / stock market
Börse Stuttgart / stock market
Börse Berlin / free trade
Wiener Börse AG / official market
Original content of: Semperit AG Holding, transmitted by news aktuell