AUGSBURG, Germany, Nov. 23, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- BOWE SYSTEC:
-- Order backlog achieved a new record level of EUR 65.3 million
by 30 September, 2004 (+29.1%)
-- Cumulated order intake rose to EUR 235.9 million (+2.3%)
-- Nine-month turnover still fell short of expectations at EUR
210.8 million (-13%)
-- Group earnings positive once more at EUR 1.9 million after the
first nine months (-58%)
Group turnover and results of the BOWE SYSTEC AG continued to fall short of expectations in the third quarter of the current business year, as well as in the first nine months of the year. Even so, a record order backlog of EUR 65.3 million, as well as increasing order intake (adjusted for currency fluctuation +7.8%) allow the company to look with confidence to the future. "Based on the current order situation, we anticipate a group turnover of about EUR 330 million (2003: EUR 346.4 million) for the 2004 business year, taking the weakness of the U.S. $ into consideration. Our prognosis for the annual net profit still lies above the previous year's result of EUR 16.2 million," declared CEO Dr. Claus Gerckens.
In the months July to September 2004, BOWE SYSTEC achieved a group turnover of EUR 73.2 million, following EUR 83.6 million in the same quarter of the previous year. The accumulated turnover of the first three quarters of 2004 remained, at EUR 210.8 million, around 13% behind the previous year's turnover of EUR 242.7 million. Around EUR 3.3 million (quarter) or EUR 11.4 million (nine months) of the decline resulted from altered currency relations, in particular the U.S. dollar to the euro.
In the third quarter, the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) -- as a result of the drop in sales -- achieved, with EUR 8.3 million, a level which was 15% lower than in the previous year (EUR 9.8 million). At EUR 6.0 million, the BOWE SYSTEC Group achieved an increase of almost 77% vis-a-vis the third quarter of 2003 (EUR 3.4 million) in the months July to September and, as a result, returned to profit after two negative quarters. The net earnings include special revenue of EUR 5.2 million (previous year 2.1 million) resulting from the repurchase of preference shares within the framework of the majority takeover of BOWE Bell + Howell agreed for January 2005. The order intake of the third quarter of 2004 dropped slightly to EUR 76.0 million following EUR 81.9 million in the previous year.
In the nine-month comparison, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) displayed a turnover-related drop of EUR 24.5 million to EUR 16.6 million. The net income for the period, however, turned positive and amounted in the first nine months to EUR 1.9 million, whereas a loss of EUR 4.1 million was registered in the first half year. In the entire period up to the end of September, the order volume in the BOWE SYSTEC Group rose from EUR 230.7 million in the previous year to EUR 235.9 million.
Third Quarter 9 Months
Financial Year 2004 2003 2004 2003
---- ---- ---- ----
Order intake (Million EUR) 76.0 81.9 235.9 230.7
Sales (Million EUR) 73.2 83.6 210.8 242.7
EBITDA (Million EUR) 8.3 9.8 16.6 24.5
EBIT (Million EUR) 4.1 6.1 4.0 14.1
EBT (Million EUR) 7.5 5.5 4.8 8.7
Net results (Million EUR) 6.0 3.4 1.9 4.5
EPS (EUR) 0.91 0.56 0.29 0.74
The complete interim report can be found on http://www.boewe-systec.de or can be requested by calling Tel. +49(0)821 / 5702-365.