Corporate | 18 March 2004 12:02

A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Presentation of annual report (corrected version)

Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– At EUR 119.4 million, sales almost reached the previous year’s historic high – Decline in earnings slowed down by improved second half-year A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Germany’s largest wallpaper manufacturer, closed the fiscal year 2003 successfully despite the difficult economic environment. This was announced by the Managing Board at today’s accounts press conference. At EUR 119.4 million, Group sales were down only just on the previous year’s historic high of EUR 119.7 million, with increased sales in the Wallpaper Division offset by lower sales in the Furnishing Fabrics Division. Both Divisions were affected by weak consumer spending in Germany. The earnings position deteriorated in FY 2003, however. At EUR 8.2 million, earnings before taxes were down 17.9% on the previous year’s EUR 9.9 million. The Wallpaper Division contributed EUR 8.7 million to 2003 earnings (2002: EUR 10.5 million), while the Furnishing Fabrics Division accounted for EUR -0.5 million (2002: EUR -0.6 million). In response to the deteriorating environment, A.S. Création took cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measures at an early stage. This allowed the company to slow down the decline in pre-tax earnings from 36.5% in the first six months of the year to 17.9% in the total year. A.S. Création thus generated a pre-tax profit margin of 6.8% (2002: 8.3%), which the Managing Board still considers to be a good level compared to other manufacturing companies. The Managing Board was unable, however, to do anything about the deteriorating tax environment in Germany. The increase in corporate income tax and trade tax and the suspension of the corporate income tax refund led to a strong decline in the company’s net profit, which dropped by 24.8% from EUR 6.3 million in 2002 to EUR 4.7 million in 2003. Accordingly, earnings per share decreased from EUR 2.25 to EUR 1.69. The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of A.S. Création Tapeten AG will stick to their dividend policy, which is characterised by a high payout ratio and a high dividend yield, and propose to the General Meeting of Shareholders on May 6, 2004 to pay out a dividend of EUR 0.75 per share (2002: EUR 0.90). This means that the shareholders of A.S. Création Tapeten AG have received a dividend in each year since the 1998 IPO. The proposed dividend will increase the payout ratio from 40.0% in 2002 to 44.4%. By increasing the dividend ratio once again, the Managing Board wants to express its confidence that the 2003 drop in earnings does not represent a negative turnaround in the development of A.S. Création but will be limited in time. While the A.S. Création share clearly outperformed the SDAX in 2001 and 2002, it was unable to benefit from the general upward trend in the capital markets in 2003. In the course of 2003, the A.S. Création share lost 4.2% in value, declining from EUR 16.50 at the beginning of the year to EUR 15.80 at year-end. The SDAX gained 49.5% during the same period. Since the beginning of 2004, however, the share price has increased by approx. 20% to around EUR 19.50. In the Wallpaper Division, the fiscal year 2004 will be marked by the integration and expansion of the sales organisations in France and the Netherlands. In February and March 2004, the company took over wallpaper wholesalers in both countries – P.P.S.E. SA and Edirama SA in France and Wandvisie 2000 B.V. in the Netherlands – with a view to establishing closer customer relations. Following the completion of the restructuring program in 2003, the Furnishing Fabrics Division has started FY 2004 with a greatly improved cost structure. Higher sales revenues and improved cost structures should lead to positive profit contributions in 2004. Overall, Group sales and net profit are projected to grow by approx. 9.0% to roughly EUR 130 million and by approx. 27.6% to roughly EUR 6.0 million, respectively, in 2004. The Group’s key figures for 2003 at a glance: 2003 2002 Change Sales EUR’000 119,351 119,660 -0.3 % Earnings before income taxes EUR’000 8,158 9,933 -17.9 % Net profit EUR’000 4,703 6,255 -24.8 % DVFA/SG earnings per share EUR/Share 1.69 2.25 -24.9 % Dividend EUR/Share 0.75 0.90 -16.7 % Gross Cash flow EUR’000 13,857 15,422 -10.1 % Capital expenditures EUR’000 9,669 6,948 39.2 % Depreciation EUR’000 7,878 7,739 1.8 % Number of employees (average) 597 613 -2.6 % Gummersbach, March 18, 2004 Inquiries: Maik Krämer, Director of Finance, phone + 49 – (0)22 61/542-387, fax + 49 – (0)22 61/542-304, E-Mail m.kraemer@as-creation.de The full Annual Report is available at: www.as-creation.de/investor or from: A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Frau Börngen, Südstr. 47, D – 51645 Gummersbach, phone + 49 – (0)22 61/542-350 end of message, (c)DGAP 18.03.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 507990; ISIN: DE0005079909; Index: Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 181202 Mär 04