Corporate | 2 May 2006 08:23

A.S. Création Tapeten AG reports sales growth of 3.6% for Q1 2006

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— .S. Création Tapeten AG, Gummersbach/Germany (ISIN DE0005079909) A.S. Création reports sales growth of 3.6% for Q1 2006 A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Germany’s largest wallpaper manufacturer, today published its interim report for the three-month period ended March 31, 2006. A summary of the report is provided below: Strong sales growth in foreign markets A.S. Création was again able to increase its sales in the current fiscal year. At EUR 40.4 million, consolidated first-quarter sales were up 3.6% on the previous year’s EUR 39.0 million. This sales growth was supported by the expansion of the company’s international activities, whereas domestic sales were down on the previous year’s level. As a result, foreign sales accounted for an increased percentage of total sales. While 50.0% of gross sales were generated abroad in the first three months of 2005, this figure has increased to 55.9% in the current fiscal year. Profit margin unchanged despite increased energy and commodities prices As became apparent in the second half of 2005, the rising prices of raw materials and supplies are weighing on the gross profit margin, which dropped from the previous year‘s 50.3% to 48.9% in the first three months of the current fiscal year. This decline shows that the company’s product policy of increasing the percentage of high-quality products in the wallpaper range has not been fully effective in offsetting the increase in procurement costs. The negative factors weighing on earnings were offset by improved staff productivity, as sales per employee rose by 4.9% from EUR 0.061 million in the first three months of 2005 to EUR 0.064 million in the current fiscal year. At EUR 8.0 million (2005: EUR 8,1 million), personnel expenses remained almost unchanged in the current fiscal year despite the increase in sales. First-quarter earnings before tax amounted to EUR 3.5 million, up 3.5% on the previous year’s EUR 3.4 million. At 8.6%, the Group’s return on sales (before taxes) almost reached the previous year’s level (8.7%). Financial structure remains robust A.S. Création again demonstrated its high internal financing strength in the current fiscal year, as first-quarter cash flow rose 6.6% from EUR 4.0 million to EUR 4.3 million. Cash flow was thus more than sufficient to fund the company’s capital expenditure in an amount of EUR 1.1 million (2005: EUR 1.3 million). Against the background of the strong cash flow and the high equity ratio of 58.2% as per March 31, 2006, the financial structure of A.S. Création still deserves to be described as very robust and healthy. Projections for the full year 2006 confirmed The Managing Board is optimistic about the further course of the fiscal year 2006, as sales are expected to benefit from additional stimulation, especially from foreign markets. The Managing Board therefore sticks to its projections for the full year 2006, according to which Group sales and net profit will amount to approx. EUR 150 million and between EUR 8.0 and 8.5 million, respectively. With a view to supporting future sales growth and modernising its equipment, A.S. Création Tapeten AG acquired a virtually new heliogravure printing machine from an insolvent French competitor in April 2006. The machine will be transferred to our production facility in Gummersbach-Derschlag and taken into service in the second quarter of 2006. The Group’s key figures for the first quarter of 2006 at a glance: 01.01. 01.01. -31.03. -31.03. 2006 2005 Change ————————————————– ——- ——- ——- Sales EUR ‘000 40,411 38,991 3.6% Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EUR ‘000 3,778 3,684 2.6% Earnings before income taxes EUR ‘000 3,491 3,374 3.5% Net profit EUR ‘000 2,173 2,028 7.1% Earnings per share EUR/share 0.78 0.73 6.8% Cash-flow EUR ‘000 4,256 3,993 6.6% Capital expenditures EUR ‘000 1,061 1,307 -18.8% Depreciation EUR ‘000 2,047 2,074 -1.3% Number of employees (average) 628 638 -1.6% Gummersbach, May 2, 2006 A.S. Création Tapeten AG The Managing Board 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 interim report is available at: www.as-creation.de or from: A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Mrs. Börngen, Südstr. 47, D – 51645 Gummersbach, phone +49-(0)22 61/542-350, e-mail investor@as-creation.de (c)DGAP 02.05.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: A.S. Création Tapeten AG Südstraße 47 51645 Gummersbach Deutschland phone: +49 (0)22 615 42-0 fax: +49 (0)22 6154 2-3 04 email: investor@as-creation.de WWW: investor@as-creation.de ISIN: DE0005079909 WKN: 507990 indexes: stockmarkets: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————