Press Release
Board approves the Interim Report at June 30, 2007
that confirms the good performance of the Group
CEMBRE (a STAR listed company):
net profit for the first six months up 46.3%,
increase also of margin on sales
- Sales continue to be strong, both in Italy and abroad
| Consolidated figures (€ ‘000) |
1°Half 2007 | Sales margin % | 1°Half 2006 | Sales margin % | % change | 2006 | Sales margin % |
| Sales | 49,071 |
100 |
41,795 |
100 |
17,4% |
83,870 |
100% |
| Gross operating profit |
12,922 |
26.3 |
9.963 |
23,8 |
19,3% |
19,131 |
22.7% |
| Operating profit |
11,345 |
23.1 |
8.424 |
20,2 |
22,3% |
15,941 |
18,9% |
| Pre-tax profit | 11,271 |
23 |
8,349 |
20 |
22,5% |
15.861 |
18,9% |
| Net profit | 7,319 | 14.9 | 5,002 | 12 | 46,3% | 9,327 | 11,.1% |
Brescia, September 26, 2007 – The Board of Directors of Cembre Spa – a STAR listed company and one of the largest European manufacturers of electrical connectors and tools for their installation – chaired by Giovanni Rosani, approved at today’s meeting the Report on the 1st Half of 2007.
Consolidated revenues for the first six months of the year amounted to €49.1 million, up 17.4% on €41.8 million the 1st Half of 2006.
In the first six months of 2007, domestic sales amounted to €20.5 million, up 11.3%, while sales outside of Italy amounted to €28.6 million, up 22.3%. In the same period, 41.7% of Group sales were represented by Italy (as compared with 44% in the 1st Half of 2006), 46.8% by the rest of Europe (46.1% in the 1st Half of 2006), and the remaining 11.5% by the rest of the World (9.9% in the 1st Half of 2006).
Consolidated gross operating profit for the first six months of the year amounted to €12.9 million, corresponding to a 26.3% margin on sales, up 29.7% on €10 million the 1st Half of 2006, when it represented a 23.8% margin on sales.
In the first six months of 2007, the increase in the cost of raw materials relative to sales was offset by a decline in the relative weight of personnel costs. The latter, thanks to the increase of operating efficiency and a better use of resources, grew in fact at a lower pace than sales, from €11.3 million to €12.4 million.
Consolidated operating profit (EBIT) for the 1st Half of 2007 amounted to €11.3 million, corresponding to a 23.1% margin on sales, up 34.7% on €8.4 million in the same period in 2006 (when it represented a 20.2% margin on sales).
Consolidated pre-tax profit for the 1st Half of 2007 amounted to €11.2 million, representing a 23% margin on sales, up 35% the 1st Half of 2006, when it amounted to €8.3 million (20% margin on sales).
Consolidated net profit amounted in the first six months of 2007 to €7.3 million, up 46.3% on €5 million in the first six months of 2006. The margin on sales for the first six months of 2007 is equal to 14.9%, up from 12% in the same period in 2006.
Net consolidated financial debt at June 30, 2007 amounted to €3 million as compared with a positive financial position of €1.3 million at March 31, 2007, and positive €1.1 million at December 31, 2006. The balance was affected by the payment at the end of May 2007 of €3.7 million in dividends, the increase in net current assets due primarily to the growth of inventories from €26 million to €30 million, the payment in June of €3 million in taxes by the parent company, in addition to €2 million of capital expenditure for the period.
Consolidated results for the 1st Half of 2007 were affected to a relevant degree by a non recurrent operation generated by new norms regulating employee termination indemnities that came into effect January 1, 2007. The restatement using different actuarial assumptions of temination indemnities accrued at December 31, 2006 resulted in a €1 million reduction in the value of the same.
As required under paragraph 111 of IAS 19, such reduction was recorded in full in the income statement in 2007, together with the related deferred taxes amounting to €0.3 million. Figures for the 1st Half of 2007 and the related changes on the same period in the previous year, net of the effect of the mentioned event, are shown in the table that follows.
| (€ ‘000) | 1° Half 2007 Restated |
% of sales | 1° Half 2006 |
% of sales | Change% |
Sales |
49,071 | 100.0 | 41,795 | 100.0 | 17.4 |
Gross
operating
profit |
11,896 | 24.2 | 9,963 | 23.8 | 19.4 |
Operating
profit |
10,319 | 21.0 | 8,424 | 20.2 | 22.5 |
Pre-tax profit |
10,245 | 20.9 | 8,349 | 20.0 | 22.7 |
Net profit |
6,632 | 13.5 | 5,002 | 12.0 | 32.6 |
The mentioned extraordinary transaction represents the only relevant change with respect to the Quarterly Report for the 2nd Quarter of 2007.
In the first six months of 2007, parent company Cembre S.p.A. reported sales fo €38.9 million, up 19.1% on the same period in 2006. Operating profit for the 1st Half of 2007 grew by 34.7% from €6.5 million in the first six months of 2006, to €8.8 million in the same period in 2007. Net of the nonrecurring operation relating to employee termination indemnities, operating profit would have amounted to €7.7 million, up 18.9% on the 1st Half of 2006. Net profit of the parent company for the period amounted to €5.6 million, up from €3.7 million in the 1st Half of 2006, representing a 48.8% increase. Without considering the change relating to the employee termination indemnity, net profit would have amounted to €4.9 million, up 30.4% on the 1st Half of 2006. The strong increase in profit before taxes is due, in addition to the above mentioned phenomena, to €0.46 million of dividends resolved by the UK subsidiary. In 2006, in fact, no dividend was paid out by any of Cembre’s subsidiaries.
“The growth in sales in the 1st Half of 2007, coupled with an improvement in operating efficiency, allowed to increase further profit margins, also net of the extraordinary effect of the restatement of employee termination indemnities using new actuaries. The performance of the Group for the first eight months of 2007 remains positive, with sales growing by 15.3% on the same period in the previous year” declared Cembre’s Managing Director, Giovanni Rosani.
Attachments to the Interim Report at June 30, 2007
- Consolidated Balance Sheet
- Consolidated Income Statement
- Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
- Balance Sheet of parent company Cembre SpA
- Income Statement of parent company Cembre SpA
- Statement of Cash Flows of parent company Cembre SpA
Please note that, at the date of present document, limited audit activity has not been completed. Indipendent Auditors Report on the Consolidated Financial Statements at June 30, 2007 of the Cembre Group will be issued later.
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 an insistence on 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 512 as of June 2007. Since 1992 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.
The Manager responsible for preparing the Company’s financial reports, Claudio Bornati, declares, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 154 bis of the Consolidated Law on Finance, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the document results, books and accounting records.
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
