euro adhoc: Westag & Getalit AG
Earnings
Moderate sales growth in
increasingly different environment; Earnings before income tax on a par with the
previous year
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quaterly report
27.10.2008
In spite of an increasingly difficult environment, Westag & Getalit AG increased its sales by 4.1% to EUR 174.6 million in the first nine months of the year (2007: EUR 167.7 million).
Export sales climbed by 4.0% to EUR 44.0 million. The export share amounted to 25.2%.
At EUR 11.8 million, earnings before income tax remained virtually unchanged from the previous year. The moderate decline in earnings in the third quarter is attributable to the fact that customers of the Plywood/Formwork Division have adopted a more cautious attitude as well as to the adverse impact of the non-recurrent conversion/downtime costs of our combined heat and power plant. The latter is now fully operational and produces a good 60 percent more electricity than before.
Due to the German corporate income tax reform, which resulted in clearly reduced corporate income tax rates, net profit increased by 13.2% to EUR 8.3 million (2007: EUR 7.3 million). Net profit per share rose to EUR 1.44 (2007: EUR 1.27).
The individual sectors in Europe and Germany are feeling the economic slowdown and the banking crisis with a certain delay and with varying intensity. Activity in the construction sector, which is the relevant industry for our company, has slowed down markedly since the beginning of the second quarter.
Against this background, it is very difficult for us to forecast our future performance. We nevertheless believe that we will be able to outperform the market due to positive export expectations, our excellent standing in the contract segment and our acknowledged strong product portfolio.
With business remaining stable compared to the previous year, we expect net profit for the full year to increase as a result of reduced corporate income taxes.
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: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / regulated dealing
Original-Content von: Westag & Getalit AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell