Corporate | 13 May 2002 13:19

A.S. Creation Tapeten english

A.S. Creation Tapeten AG, (WKN 507990 / ISIN DE0005079909) Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Q1 2002 sales up a solid 7.3% to EUR 34.1 million On May 13, 2002, A.S. Creation Tapeten AG, Germany’s largest wallpaper manufacturer published their interim report for the three-month period ended March 31, 2002. The full report may be ordered at: A.S. Creation Tapeten AG, Mrs. Börngen, Südstraße 47, D-51645 Gummersbach, phone +49 – 22 61/542-350, e- mail: investor@as-creation.de. A summary of the report is provided below: Sales At EUR 34.1 million, first-quarter sales were up EUR 2.3 million or 7.3% on the same period of the previous year. Of this increase, EUR 1.8 million or 5.8% were accounted for by FUGGERHAUS Stoffe GmbH, Gummersbach, and H. Strehl & Co. GmbH, Augsburg, which operate in the furnishing fabrics sector. Both companies were not consolidated in the first quarter of FY 2001. Adjusted for these changes in the consolidated group, sales were up 1.5%. Against the background of the difficult economic situation and the general consumer spending restraint prevailing in the first quarter of 2002, the Managing Board of A.S. Creation Tapeten AG considers the internal sales growth of 1.5% to be satisfactory. Financial and earnings position The earnings position deteriorated slightly in the first quarter. Mainly due to the unfavourable cost structure at FUGGERHAUS Stoffe GmbH, which was taken over together with the company’s business operations, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) declined by 3.9% from EUR 3.7 million in Q1 2001 to EUR 3.6 million in Q1 2002. At 10.4%, the EBIT margin nevertheless remained above the 10% mark. DVFA/SG earnings per share amounted to EUR 0.70 in the first quarter of 2002, compared to EUR 0.74 in the same period of the previous year. A.S. Creation’s financial position continues to be healthy and very robust. As at March 31, 2002, the equity ratio stood at 49.1% (December 31, 2001: 50.4%), while net financial debt was reduced from EUR 17.2 million to EUR 15.2 million in Q1 2002. This reduction was supported by the strong gross cash flow, which amounted to EUR 4.4 million in the reporting period (previous year: EUR 4.8 million). Outlook In the Furnishing Fabrics Division, the next nine months will be marked by the ongoing integration of FUGGERHAUS Stoffe GmbH and H. Strehl & Co. GmbH. The Division aims to concentrate the activities at Gummersbach-Derschlag and to close the facilities in Cologne and Augsburg. At the same time, the product range and marketing activities of FUGGERHAUS Stoffe GmbH will be expanded selectively in order to increase sales of the FUGGERHAUS, TULIPAN and VOLLAND premium brands. FUGGERHAUS Stoffe GmbH is to establish sales and cost structures which will lead to positive profit contributions by FY 2003. Despite the weaker first quarter, the Managing Board of A.S. Creation Tapeten AG is confident that the announced full-year sales and net profit (DVFA/SG earnings) targets of approx. EUR 126 million and approx. EUR 6.5 million, respectively, will be reached. The Group’s key figures for Q1 2002 at a glance: 01.01.- 01.01.- 31.03.2002 31.03.2001 Change Sales EUR’000 34.135 31.810 7,3% Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EUR’000 3.561 3.706 -3,9% Earnings before income taxes EUR’000 3.224 3.358 -4,0% Net profit EUR’000 1.937 2.034 -4,8% DVFA/SG earnings per share EUR/Share 0,70 0,74 -5,4% Gross cash flow EUR’000 4.413 4.759 -7,3% Capital expenditures EUR’000 1.565 2.606 -39,9% Depreciation EUR’000 2.104 2.051 2,6% Number of employees (average) 616 559 10,2% Gummersbach, May 13, 2002 Inquiries: Maik Krämer, Director of Finance, phone +49 – 22 61/542-387, fax +49 – 22 61/542-304, e-mail m.kraemer@as-creation.de end of message, (c)DGAP 13.05.2002