Press Release
BOARD APPROVES THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE 3rd QUARTER OF 2007
CEMBRE (A STAR LISTED COMPANY): IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2007
PROFIT BEFORE TAXES UP 24.8%
- Consolidated sales up 14.4% (in Italy up 7.7%,
abroad up 19.8%) - Consolidated Ebitda (€17.1 million) up 22.2%
Consolidated figures (€ ‘000) |
First nine months 2007 | Sales marg. % | First nine months 2006 | Sales marg. % | % ch. |
3rd Qtr. 2007 |
Sales marg. % | 3rd Qtr. 2006 | Sales marg. % | % ch. |
Sales |
70.489 |
100 |
61.593 |
100 |
14,4 |
21.418 |
100 |
19.798 |
100 |
8,2 |
Gross operating profit |
17.086 |
24,2 |
13.981 |
22,7 |
22,2 |
4.164 |
19,4 |
4.018 |
20,3 |
3,6 |
Operating profit |
14.662 |
20,8 |
11.646 |
18,9 |
25,9 |
3.317 |
15,5 |
3.222 |
16,3 |
2,9 |
Pre-tax profit |
14.451 |
20,5 |
11.582 |
18,8 |
24,8 |
3.180 |
14,.8 |
3.233 |
16,3 |
-1,6 |
Brescia, November 14, 2007 - The Board of Directors of Cembre Spa – a company listed in the STAR segment of the Milan Stock Exchange and one of the largest European manufacturers of electrical connectors and tools for their installation – chaired by the Managing Director Giovanni Rosani, approved at today’s meeting the Report on the 3rd Quarter of 2007.
In the 3rd Quarter of 2007, consolidated revenues grew by 8.2% from €19.8 million in the 3rd Quarter of 2006 to €21.4 million in the same period in 2007.
Consolidated sales of the Cembre Group for the first nine months of 2007 grew by 14.4% on the same period in 2006, up from €61.6 million to €70.5 million.
In the first nine months of 2007, a total of 41.8% of sales were represented by Italy (44.4% in the first nine months of 2006), 46.9% by the rest of Europe (46.2% in the first nine months of 2006) and 11.3% by the rest of the world (9.4% in the first nine months of 2006).
Consolidated domestic sales for the first nine months of 2007 grew by 7.7%, while in the same period exports grew by 19.8%. In the 3rd Quarter, domestic sales were stable on the same period in 2006, while exports grew by 14.6%, spurred by strong sales on the Spanish and US markets, with sales in the UK remaining stable.
Consolidated gross operating profit (Ebitda) for the first nine months of 2007 amounted to €17.1 million, representing a 24.2% margin on sales, up 22.2% on the first nine months of 2006 when it amounted to €13.9 million, representing a 22.7% margin on sales.
Gross operating profit for the 3rd Quarter grew by 3.6%, from €4 million in the 3rd Quarter of 2006 (representing a 20.3% margin on sales), to €4.2 million in the 3rd Quarter of 2007 (representing a 19.4% margin on sales). In the 3rd Quarter of 2007, gross operating profit was negatively affected by the growth as a percentage of sales of raw material costs due in particular to the increase in copper prices and the lower growth of sales with respect to the first six months of the year.
Consolidated operating profit (Ebit) for the first nine months of 2007 amounted to €14.7 million, corresponding to a 20.8% margin on sales, up 25.9% on €11.6 million in the first nine months of 2006 (18.9% of sales).
Consolidated operating profit improved also in the quarter from €3.2 million (16.3% of sales) in the 3rd Quarter of 2006, to €3.3 million (15.5% of sales) in the 3rd Quarter of 2007.
Consolidated profit before taxes for the first nine months of 2007 amounts to €14.5 million (20.5% of sales), up 24.8% on €11.6 million in the first nine months of 2006 (18.8% of sales).
Consolidated profit before taxes for the 3rd Quarter of 2007 amounted to €3.1 million, representing a 14.8% margin on sales, down 1.6% on €3.2 million in the 3rd Quarter of 2006, when it represented a 16.3% margin on sales. Consolidated net profit was negatively affected by the interest expense on short-term loans extended to the parent company and the unfavorable foreign-exchange performance.
The consolidated net financial position declined from positive €1.1 thousand at December 31, 2006 to positive €0.1 million at September 30, 2007. The balance was affected by €3.3 million of capital expenditure for the period, the payment at the end of May 2007 of €3.7 million in dividends for the 2006 financial year, the increase in net current assets due primarily to the growth of inventories in the first six months of 2007 from €26 million to €31 million, and the payment in June of €3 million in taxes by the parent company. The net financial position is however improving sharply from a net indebtedness of €3 million at June 30, 2006.
“We are witnessing significant growth in revenues in difficult markets, as in the US, despite the strength of the euro. Sales for October, also show an increase in sales of 8.4%. These results, together with launch of new products, make us confident on the maintenance of this growth trend” declared Cembre’s Managing Director, Giovanni Rosani.
Consolidated results for the first nine months 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 termination 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 for the 1st Half of 2007, together with the related deferred taxes amounting to €0.3 million. Figures for the first nine months 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 |
70.489 | 100 | 61.593 | 100 | 14,4 |
Gross
operating
profit |
16.060 | 22,8 | 13.981 | 22,7 | 14,9 |
Operating
profit |
13.636 | 19,3 | 11.646 | 18,9 | 17,1 |
Pre-tax profit |
13.425 | 19 | 11.582 | 18,8 | 15,9 |
Attachments: Financial Statements at September 30, 2007
The Quarterly Report at September 30, 2007 has not been audited
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 522 as of September 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 tools for their installation.
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
