Ad-hoc | 15 November 2004 07:59

Koenig & Bauer group (KBA): First quarterly pre-tax profit since 2002

Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Koenig & Bauer group (KBA): First quarterly pre-tax profit since 2002 The group figures issued by press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) after the third quarter 2004 show that the volume of new orders has leaped 21.7% on the previous year to stand at EUR1,040.1m (2003: EUR854.3m). Sales in the first nine months of the year improved 16.8% to EUR944.5m (2003: EUR808.8m). As a result, it was possible to cut the loss before taxes (EBT) to EUR9.7m, slashing over 75% from the corresponding figure for the previous year (2003: -EUR40.9m including restructuring costs) and almost 50% from the figure returned after the first six months of 2004. The continuing improvement is also expressed in the fact that, for the first time since the end of 2002, a quarterly profit before taxes (EBT) of EUR8.8m was posted in the third quarter of 2004. Alongside the persistent pressure on prices, revenue losses arising from be-low-target sales and spiralling costs for raw materials placed a squeeze on earnings. Nevertheless, management holds by the declared annual group sales target for 2004 of EUR1.4bn – the highest in KBA’s 187-year history – and a pre-tax profit. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 15.11.2004 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: The period order intake for sheetfed offset presses rose 18.5% over 2003 to EUR571.6m. Sales, at EUR464m, remained short of the ambitious target figures for the year, but were still up 9.8% on the prior year level (EUR422.5m). Further con-tracts for publication rotogravure, security and newspaper presses enabled the web and special presses division to boost orders received by 25.9% to EUR468.5m. Nine-month sales in this segment climbed 24.4% to EUR480.5m, from EUR386.3m the previous year. Even with domestic sales on the increase, the export level remained high at 84.2%. Although the investment climate in the international printing industry has revived somewhat in the past twelve months, the management at KBA still sees striking differences between the individual sectors and regions. The upturn to date has been too modest and has remained insufficiently stable to fill the additional production capacity built up in the press manufacturing industry during the boom years. The pricing competition typical of a buyer’s market, the soaring costs of energy and steel, and the strong euro are significant burdens for export-intensive business. ——————————————————————————– WKN: 719350; ISIN: DE0007193500; Index: SDAX Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard) und München; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg und Stuttgart 150759 Nov 04