Business News
schlott gruppe confirms preliminary results for the second quarter and the first half of 2008/9
Thursday 07. May 2009 - Recession makes itself felt: VAS 100.2 million in first half of 2008/9 after 115.1 million a year ago; Operating EBT H1 2008/9 -0.8 million after +0.5 million a year ago; Increase in utilisation rate in Q3 expected
schlott gruppe has confirmed its preliminary results for the 2008/9 second quarter and first six months ended March 31, 2009 as reported on 22 April 2009. The interim report on the first six months and the second quarter of the current financial year 2008/9 is available on the web site of schlott gruppe.
After a first-quarter operational performance that slightly exceeded expectations, capacity utilisation and in turn tonnage declined markedly in the course of the already usually seasonally weak second quarter. Correspondingly, value-added sales (VAS) contracted by 17.3 per cent to 44.4 million, compared to 53.7 million in the same period a year ago. In the first half, VAS totalled 100.2 million, as opposed to 115.1 million in the previous year. Group revenue stood at 89.0 million in the second quarter of the current financial year, after 102.8 million a year ago. For the first six months of the current financial year, revenue totalled 193.7 million, compared to 222.7 million for the same period a year ago. All figures have been adjusted for the deconsolidation of the sachsendruck subsidiary effective from November 1, 2008.
Costs were again scaled back over the course of the current financial year, with a particular emphasis on the area of materials management and personnel. Despite this, the Group was unable to offset fully within its earnings the substantial decline experienced in tonnage output in the months of February and March. Accordingly and despite a significant increase in foreign currency gains, operating EBT for the second quarter fell to -3.6 million, compared to -2.7 million a year ago, while the result for the first six months was -0.8 million, in contrast to +0.5 million last year.
Following restructuring expenses of 6.3 million in the second quarter and first six months of the previous financial year, follow-on restructuring expenses in the quarter under review amounted to 0.4 million and 0.6 million for the first six months. Reported EBT stood at -4.1 million in the second quarter of 2008/9, in contrast to -9.0 million a year ago, while reported EBT for the first half was -1.3 million, up from -5.8 million last year.
The print unit generated VAS of 43.7 million in the second quarter, compared to 52.8 million last year. VAS for the first six months stood at 98.5 million, in contrast to 113.3 million a year ago. Operating EBT amounted to -3.2 million in the second quarter, compared to -1.6 million a year ago, and to 0.9 million in the first six months, after 2.2 million in same period a year ago. The significant decline in capacity utilisation and tonnage had an impact on the performance of the print segment: in the second quarter the Group printed 17.9 per cent or 25.9 thousand tonnes less than in the same period a year ago. At 272.3 thousand tonnes, the volume of paper printed in the first six months was 35.3 thousand tonnes or 11.5 per cent less than in the same period a year ago. The corporate services segment, whose activities are restricted to providing intragroup services, remained in line with targets.
As regards the Group’s business performance during the remainder of the current financial year, the emphasis in terms of cost structures will be on unlocking additional savings potential. Machine capacity at the Group’s Hamburg site will be reduced by 25 per cent to four and a half, and, by the end of 2009, some 60 employees will be laid off. In addition to short-time work already introduced, the Group is also assessing the possibility of introducing short-time work at other locations. Also, further improvements with regard to purchasing are pursuited.
As already explained at the Annual General Meeting, VAS and EBT projections for the annual period 2008/9 as a whole cannot be provided with any degree of certainty. Having said that, there is evidence to suggest that, unlike other sectors of the economy, the printing industry has not yet experienced a full-scale collapse in demand. Overall, purchasing patterns are sluggish – in line with the normal seasonality of business. However, they essentially remain unchanged. Therefore, schlott gruppe anticipates an increase in capacity utilisation in the course of the third quarter.