Corporate | 14 December 2004 08:01

EVN posts a positive result 2003/04

Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Financially successful year that points the way ahead – EVN posts a positive result 2003/04 Highlights Financial Year 2003/04 (October 1, 2003 – September 30, 2004) Sales revenues 1,207.3 EURm +11.6% EBITDA 297.6 EURm +30.8% EBIT 114.6 EURm +11.8% Group net result 117.4 EURm +14.5% Earnings/share 3.08 EUR +12.8% Dividend/share 0.95 EUR +26.7% · Marked increases in revenues, EBIT and net result · Increase of dividend from 0.75 to 0.95 EUR (+26.7%) · Purchase of majority holdings in two Bulgarian electricity supply companies · Strong growth in the water sector with WTE projects · EVN to build waste incineration plant in Moscow · Successful capital increase: 3.3 million new shares placed, 133.7 EUR m fresh capital Sales revenues and expenses Mainly on the basis of the contributions from waste incineration and the project business of the new subsidiary WTE, overall sales revenues rose by 11.6% to EUR 1,207.3 m. This meant that for the first time, the EVN Group also attained substantial earnings outside Lower Austria. While electricity revenues rose by 8.5% and heating revenues by 12.8, water revenues markedly increased from EUR 21.4 m to EUR 119.2 m. Gas revenues decreased by 14.7% due to the transfer of gas trading and large customer sales to EconGas. The sharp increase in market prices for primary energy and electricity purchases placed a considerable burden on EVN earnings. As a result of the enlargement of the scope of consolidation, average work force numbers in the EVN Group increased by 12.6% to 2,608 during the period under review. In spite of this fact, EVN personnel expenses only showed a disproportionately small rise of 5.5% and totalled EUR 200.5 m. In the period under review, depreciation rose by 46.4% to EUR 183.0 m (previous year: EUR 125.0 m). Scheduled depreciation increased by 17.8% to EUR 152.8 m, due mainly to ongoing EVN investment activity and the additions of the past year. During the 2003/04 financial year, exceptional value adjustments of EUR 30.2 m were completed. Operating result Despite the steep rise in depreciation, at EUR 114.6 m, the operating result (EBIT) for the 2003/04 financial year still exceeded that of the preceding year by 11.8%. Financial result During the period under report, the financial result reached a highly satisfactory volume of EUR 21.3 m. However, this was below the EUR 42.8 m of the preceding year, which had been strongly influenced by one-off effects in connection with the valuation of financial instruments. Result before tax and Group net result Against this background, the result before tax for the 2003/04 financial year amounted to EUR 135.9 m and was therefore EUR 9.4 m, or 6.5%, below the EUR 145.4 m of the preceding year. Following the taking into account of taxes on profit, the Group net result amounts to EUR 117.4 m, which was EUR 14.9 m, or 14.5%, higher than the comparable figure for the preceding year. Take-over of majority in two Bulgarian electricity supply companies One decisive step forward with regard to further company development was recently achieved region with EVN’s take-over of the “South-East Company Group” in the course of the privatisation of the Bulgarian electricity industry. This group includes two power companies with a supply area of around 42,000 km2 and some 2.8 million people with an annual power demand of approximately 6,600 GWh. The signing of the contracts of purchase took place in Sofia at the end of October 2004. Growth leap in the water business area – EVN now Austria’s largest, private supplier of water services During the period under review, EVN was able to consolidate its market position and activities in the water business area. This development was initiated at the beginning of the financial year with the acquisition of the German WTE Wassertechnik GmbH, which was followed by the purchase of the remaining 50% stake in NOVUM in December 2003. The probity of this approach was already confirmed during the period under review by several international projects. These include orders for a drinking water supply plant for Moscow and a wastewater treatment plant for the city of Szczecin (Stettin) in Poland. Thermal wate incineration shows high level of dynamics The activities in the waste incineration sector also developed in a highly positive fashion. The waste incineration plant at Dürnrohr in Lower Austria went into full operation as planned on January 1, 2004, and was able to make a positive contribution to results in its first operational year. In the meantime, we have succeeded in putting EVN’s expertise in the “waste- to-energy” sector to good use in further projects. As the best bidder in an international invitation to tender, EVN is to build and operate a waste incineration plant with an annual capacity of 330,000 t in the Russian capital of Moscow. Dividends In view of the solid result, the Board will propose an increase of the dividend per share for the finacial year 2003/04 from EUR 0.75 to EUR 0.95 (+26.7%) to the Annual General Meeting. Outlook EVN CEO Rudolf Gruber, “Three factors will have a decisive influence on EVN business in the coming years. Firstly, the integration of the two, recently purchased, Bulgarian regional electricity suppliers. Secondly, the rapidly growing contribution to results from the water and waste incineration business areas and thirdly, the further development of partnerships within the scope of the “Austrian solutions” for electricity and gas.” EVN’s Annual Report 2002/03 can be downloaded from http://www.investor.evn.at . end of message, (c)DGAP 14.12.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 074105; ISIN: AT0000741053; Index: ATX Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Wien; Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (General Standard, WKN 878279) und München; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen und Stuttgart 140801 Dez 04