Ad-hoc | 25 March 2002 08:26

Palfinger AG english

www.palfinger.com Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Second-best results in Palfinger Group’s history 2001 another year of record revenue and volume *Investments and start-up costs impact earnings *Positive contributions by Madal und “Mobiler” *Successful completion of first e-logistics project Bergheim/Salzburg, 25 March 2002 Financial 2001 was another successful year for the company. Volume and revenue held up well, the result was the second best in the Group’s history. Sales of cranes and systems registered a year-on-year increase of 3.5 percent. Revenue rose by 5.4 percent to stand at EUR 332.1m in 2001, compared with EUR 315.0m in 2000. The encouraging performance of the acquisition in Brazil, stronger demand for state-of-the-art cranes and continuous improvement of service standards all contributed to growth. Deterioration in earnings was largely due to investments and insipid demand in the third and fourth quarters of 2001. EBIT for 2001 fell by 14.9 percent to EUR 38.1m after EUR 44.7m in 2000, the EBIT margin of 11.5 percent was once again above average after 14.2 percent in the previous year. Following the capital increase, earnings per share are EUR 2.51 for 2001. The Management Board will recommend to the General Meeting a dividend of EUR 0.75 per share. The year 2001 saw a high level of capital expenditure which, at EUR 32.2m was almost twice as high as in the previous year (EUR 17.6m). Major milestones included expanding capacities in France, the establishment of a new location in Germany and process optimization measures for the Lengau and Maribor locations. Outlook Current economic forecasts for 2002 are widely divergent, the company therefore sees this year as one of consolidation at a high level. Thanks to stable earnings quality Palfinger sees no reason to depart from the Group’s well-tried strategy of controlled growth. Contact: Hannes Roither, PALFINGER AG, Public & Investor Relations phone +43 (0)662 4684 2260 h.roither@palfinger.com, http://www.palfinger.com end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 25.03.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 075830; ISIN: AT0000758305; Index: Listed: Amtlicher Handel in Wien; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt und Stuttgart 250826 Mär 02