Ad-hoc | 29 July 2003 07:32

Vossloh AG english

Vossloh: Clear rise in H1/2003 sales and earnings Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Vossloh: Clear rise in H1/2003 sales and earnings In H1/2003, the Vossloh Group showed sales of EUR 367.6 million, a 21-percent improvement over the year-earlier EUR 305.0 million. During this period, Group EBIT climbed to EUR 49.4 million, more than twice the prior year’s EUR 22.2 million, the EBIT margin advancing from 7.3 to now 13.4 percent. EBIT for H1/2003 contains a net gain of EUR 14.5 million from the transfer on January 2, 2003, of the final one-third stake in the VAE Group. Adjusted for this, EBIT increased by EUR 12.7 million to EUR 34.9 million, the EBIT margin then equaling 9.5 percent. At EUR 31.3 million, Group earnings reported for H1/2003 easily more than doubled, from EUR 13.1 million in H1/2002 to EUR 31.3 million. This results in an EpS of EUR 2.24 compared with EUR 0.96 for H1/2002. Whereas this year’s H1 earnings include the tax-free gain of a net EUR 14.5 million from the transfer of the VAE stake, the earnings reported for H1/2002 had subsumed a net gain from the sale of the Lighting division (EUR 5.9 million). Discounting both of these one-time factors, Group earnings show a rise of 133 percent. Prompted by H1/2003 business, Vossloh AG’s Executive Board reaffirms its sales and earnings forecasts, upped recently in May for all of 2003. Originally budgeted at a good EUR 870 million, Group sales are now predicted at EUR 890 million while EBIT, initially forecast at EUR 95 million, should climb to EUR 97 million. The EBIT margin would thus advance from 10.5 to 10.9 percent. Hitherto budgeted at EUR 52 million and now targeted at EUR 53.5 million, Group earnings would beat the already high year-earlier EUR 52.4 million. As to ROCE, this is reckoned to reach 15 percent (up from 13.3 percent). Werdohl, July 29, 2003 Vossloh AG, Executive Board end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 29.07.2003 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 766710; ISIN: DE0007667107; Index: MDAX Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Düsseldorf und Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 290732 Jul 03