Press Release
The Board of Directors of Cembre approves
the Financial Statements at December 31, 2006
CEMBRE (a STAR listed company):
DIVIDEND GROWS BY 47% TO €0.22
- The increase is due to the strong net consolidated profit amounting to €9.3 million, up 41.2% on the previous year
- Consolidated revenues reach €84 million, up 20.2%
- The Board requests authorization to carry out transaction on treasury stock
| (€‘000) |
2006 | Sales marg. % |
2005 | Sales marg. %. |
change % |
| Consolidated revenues | 84.127 | 100 | 69.997 | 100 | 20.2 |
| Consolidated gross operating profit | 19.132 | 22.7 | 14.718 | 21.0 | 30.0 |
| Consolidated operating profit | 15.942 | 18.9 | 11.023 | 15.7 | 44.6 |
| Consolidated profit before taxes | 15.862 | 18.9 | 11.192 | 16.0 | 41.7 |
| Net consolidated profit | 9.328 | 11.1 | 6.605 | 9.4 | 41.2 |
| Consolidated net financial position | 1.071 | 2.777 |
Brescia, March 28, 2007 - The Board of Directors of Cembre Spa – a STAR segment listed company and one of the largest European producers of electrical connectors and tools for their installation – chaired by Giovanni Rosani, approved at today’s meeting the Financial Statements at December 31, 2006, reporting a marked improvement in results on the previous year.
The Board of Directors of Cembre Spa resolved also to propose to the Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on April 30, 2007 on first call and on May 14, 2007 on second call, the distribution to Shareholders of a €0.22 dividend for each of the shares in circulation, with a payment date of May 28, 2007 and an ex-dividend date, against the clipping of coupon no.10, of May 28, 2007. The dividend represents a 47% increase on the dividend distributed from 2005 net profit (€0.15 per share).
Consolidated revenues amount to €84.1 million, up 20.2% from €70 million in 2005,. The breakdown of sales by region confirms a consolidated trend recorded by the Cembre Group.
Domestic sales amounted to €37.1 million, up 18.8%, while exports amounted to €47 million, posting a 21.3% increase on the previous year. A total of 44.1% of sales were represented by Italy (44.6% in the previous year), 45.8% by the rest of Europe (46.4% in the previous year) and 10.1% by the rest of the world (as compared with 9% in 2005). The strong sales performance is due to the recovery of the market and the widening of the product range.
Gross consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) for 2006 amounted to €19.1 million, representing a 22.7% margin on sales, up 30% on 2005 (when it amounted to €14.7 million, representing a 21% margin on sales). The improvement was achieved despite the increase in raw material prices and can be attributed to the good operating performance, with a strong increase in sales and a more modest increase in costs, due in turn to ongoing research and process innovation carried out by the Group.
Consolidated operating profit (EBIT) for the year amounts to €15.9 million, corresponding to an 18.9% margin on sales, up 44.6% on €11 million in 2005, when it represented a 15.7% margin on sales, due to the lower weight of depreciation and amortization.
Consolidated pre-tax profit for the year amounted to €15.9 million, representing an 18.9% margin on sales, up on €11.2 million in 2005, when it represented a 16% margin on sales despite the less favorable foreign-exchange trend.
Consolidated net profit for the year amounted to €9.3 million, representing an 11.1% margin on sales, up 41.2% on €6.6 million in 2005, when it represented a 9.4% margin on sales.
The strong profits generated in the year and development objectives of the Group led management to make larger investments (€5.7 million in 2006, as compared with €2.1 million in 2005), resulting in a reduction in the net financial position, declining from €2.8 million in 2005, to €1.07 million in 2006. Among the largest investment is the acquisition of a plot of land adjacent to the Brescia main offices of the Company for €2.3 million.
Parent company Cembre S.p.A. closed the 2006 financial year reporting sales of €65.6 million, up 22.7% on €53.5 million in 2005.
Gross operating margin of the parent company grew by 24.6% from €11.4 million in 2005, to €14.3 million in the current year.
Operating margin of the parent company grew by 35.5% to €11.9 million, while net profit amounted to €6.7 million, up 40.6% on the previous year. Financial year 2006 is the first in which the financial statements of the parent company were prepared under IAS/IFRS accounting principles.
“The good sales performance for 2006 are due to the recovery of the market and results generated by operating efficiency improvements and the widening of the product range, with the development of new products. These results allow us to better remunerate Shareholders with a dividend of €0.22 per share, up 47% on the previous year. The increase in the dividend is linked also to profits generated by foreign subsidiaries, wholly-owned by Cembre, that continue to post good growth rates in the respective markets.
We are also satisfied of the sales performance in the first months of 2007that shows a continuation of the positive trend registered in 2006. At the end of February, in fact, consolidated sales registered a 20% growth on the corresponding period in the previous year” declared Cembre’s Managing Director, Giovanni Rosani.
Requested to Shareholders’ Meeting the authorization to acquire and sell own shares
The Board of Directors resolved to submit to the approval of the next Shareholders’ Meeting summoned on first call for April 30, 2007 at 9:30 am at the Company’s Registered Office in Brescia, Via Serenissima, 9, and, where necessary, on second call on May 14, 2007, a request for an authorization to purchase and sell own shares, pursuant to articles 2357 and 2357-ter of the Italian Civil Code, and to article 132 of Legislative Decree 58/1998.
Said authorization to purchase and sell own shares is motivated for corporate management purposes – already at the root of previous similar authorizations of the Shareholders’ Meeting – and in view of the expiration (on May 15, 2007) of the twelve-month term of the last authorization.
Transactions involving the purchase and sale of own shares that are the object of the authorization to be submitted to the Shareholders’ Meeting will from time to time involve (i) the acquisition and/or sale of own shares for the purposes of investment and/or stabilization of the share price and to provide liquidity to shares traded on the market, under the terms and in the manner provided by applicable regulations, or (ii) allow the use of own shares in the context of transactions carried out in the framework of the ordinary management of the Company or projects coherent with the strategic guidelines of the Company in the pursuit of which the opportunity of an exchange of shares may arise.
The authorization for the purchase of own shares is requested from the date of the Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting for a period of twelve months, as provided by article 2357, paragraph 2, of the Italian Civil Code. The authorization for the sale of own shares is requested without time limitations.
The Board of Directors proposes that the price at which the shares of the Company are acquired or sold should not exceed the official price recorded by ordinary Cembre shares at the closing of the trading day that precedes each individual purchase plus 5%, and no lower than the official price recorded by ordinary Cembre shares at the closing of the trading day that precedes each individual sale minus 25%. The authorization is requested for the purchase, in one or more installments, of ordinary shares having a par value of €0.52 each, up to a maximum amount determined so that, keeping into account the number of ordinary Cembre shares already held by the Company or its subsidiaries, the number of own shares held does not exceed 10% of the Company’s share capital (corresponding to 1,700,000 ordinary shares), as provided by article 2357 of the Italian Civil Code. At the date of the present press release, Cembre does not own any of its shares.
The purchase and sale of own shares will be carried out on regulated markets in accordance with operating procedures set in the regulations for the organization and management of said markets, that do not allow for the direct matching of purchase bids with predetermined sale offers, pursuant to article 144-bis, comma 1, par.a) and b) of Consob Regulation 11971/99, so as to ensure equal treatment to all shareholders, as provided by article 132 of Legislative Decree 58/1998.
Consolidated Financial Statements and statutory accounts of parent company Cembre SpA at December 31, 2006
Cembre designs, manufactures and distributes electrical connectors and cable accessories. It enjoys a leadership position in Italy and significant market shares in the rest of Europe. It is also the world's largest producer of connector installation tools (mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic) and tools for cable shearing. The products it has developed for connection to the rail and for other railway applications are used by the main companies in this sector round the world.
Cembre owes its success to the development of innovative, high-quality products, a broad and thorough collection, and an extensive distribution network both in Italy and abroad.
Founded in Brescia in 1969, the Cembre Group is now a full-fledged international force. Along with the parent company in Brescia it has seven subsidiaries: five trading companies (in Germany, France, Spain, the United States and Norway) and two manufacturing and trading subsidiaries (Cembre Ltd. in Birmingham, U.K. and General Marking S.r.l. in Bergamo), for a total workforce of 476 as of December 2006. Since 1990 its products have been certified by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance for the design and production of accessories for cables, electrical connectors and their installation tools.
Cembre has been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since December 15, 1997, and on the STAR section since September 24, 2001.
The financial statements and accounts of all companies of the Cembre Group are audited by independent auditors Ernst & Young.
Contact:
Ferruccio Peroni (Peroni e Vitale comunicazione) f.peroni@peronievitale.it
For further information please contact Mr. Claudio Bornati
Cembre S.p.A. - Tel. +390303692269
