Business News
Xeikon N.V.: Trading update Q1 2013
Tuesday 14. May 2013 - Sales at Xeikon N.V. ('Xeikon') for the period January to March 2013 were EUR 27.6 million, compared with EUR 27.3 million for the same period last year.
The main trends in sales during the first quarter were as follows:
Per segment: the higher sales are mainly due to the growth of Digital Printing Solutions, where sales rose by 12%. Sales at Prepress Solutions fell by 30%. Overall, consolidated sales were up 1%.
Per activity/product: turnover from equipment sales was up 4.7% compared with the first quarter of 2012; recurring income from consumables and service activities was down 0.7%.
Due to continuing growth in the Labels & Packaging segment, turnover from equipment sales at Digital Printing Solutions has risen sharply. At Prepress Solutions, by contrast, turnover from equipment sales has dropped back, in line with the market trend for offset.
The slight overall decrease in recurring income is the result of stable recurring income at Digital Printing Solutions and a further decrease in recurring income at Prepress Solutions.
Per region: in Europe sales fell during the first quarter (-17.7%), whereas in Asia and America sales rose by 26.1% and 35.5% respectively. The lower sales in Europe are due to lower turnover at Prepress Solutions.
Talks about possible takeover bid still in progress
With reference to its earlier press release of January 8, 2013, Xeikon confirms that discussions are still being conducted with a party regarding the possibility of a public takeover bid being made for Xeikon’s shares.
Xeikon wishes to stress that as yet there is no clear information regarding the terms and conditions of any transaction.
Further announcements will be made if and when circumstances so require.
This announcement is made pursuant to Article 5:25i Paragraph 2 of the Financial Supervision Act.
Prospects
The group does not wish to announce any concrete objectives.
General Meeting of Shareholders
The General Meeting of Shareholders will be held at the company’s offices at Brieversstraat 70, 4529 GZ Eede, the Netherlands, at 11 am on Tuesday May 28, 2013.
Purchase of treasury shares
The management has decided to make use of the authority granted to it to purchase treasury shares. Under this authority, the management is empowered to purchase treasury shares up to the maximum quantity that may be vested in the company by virtue of the law and the articles of association at the time of acquisition, at a price between their par value and 110% of the stock-market price at the time of acquisition. In its quarterly trading updates, the company will report periodically on the number of treasury shares purchased and the average acquisition price. As at the end of April 2013, the company had purchased a total of 3,152,332 Xeikon shares at an average price of EUR 2.68. This represents 10.98% of the total number of shares outstanding.