Corporate | 2 November 2007 08:23
A.S. Création Tapeten AG / Interim Report/Quarter Results
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A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Gummersbach/Germany
(ISIN DE0005079909)
A.S. Création continues its growth strategy and boosts sales by 10.4% in
the current fiscal year
A.S. Création Tapeten AG, the leading wallpaper manufacturer in Europe,
today published its interim report for the nine-month period ended
September 30, 2007. A summary of the report is provided below:
Sales reach new record level
Growing by 10.4% from the previous year’s € 114.8 million to € 126.7
million, sales revenues marked a new record. This sales growth was driven
mainly by foreign markets, where sales increased by 16.9%. A clear
improvement was recorded in the German market in the third quarter, so that
domestic third-quarter sales increased by 8.9%. As a result, the German
market now also makes a contribution to A.S Création’s sales growth in the
first nine months. According to the Managing Board, the company’s overall
market position has improved.
Operating profitability strengthened
Building on the high sales revenues, A.S. Création was able to strengthen
its profitability. Earnings before income taxes increased at a higher rate
than sales in the first nine months and reached € 10.8 million, up 19.3% on
the previous year’s € 9.1 million. Accordingly, the pre-tax return on sales
rose to 8.6% (2006: 7.9%). A further improvement in profitability was made
impossible by the sharp increase in raw material and energy costs, which
were not fully offset by higher sales prices.
Apart from the operational reasons for the improved earnings position, a
special profit-enhancing tax effect occurred in the third quarter. Due to
the reduction in tax rates decided in July 2007 as part of the corporate
tax reform in Germany, the deferred taxes in the consolidated balance sheet
had to be adjusted to these future tax rates. The respective reduction in
deferred taxes resulted in tax income of € 0.8 million. As a result of this
non-cash income, net profit for the first nine months of 2007 increased by
a disproportionate 31.1% from the previous year’s € 5.7 million to € 7.4
million. Adjusted for the special tax effect, net profit for the first nine
months of 2007 amounted to € 6.6 million.
Capital expenditure in additional plant capacity create new jobs
A.S. Création is in the process of implementing a comprehensive capital
expenditure programme with a view to further improving its competitive
position. In this context, three additional machines were installed to
expand the production capacity of the Wallpaper Division, while the
Furnishing Fabrics Division was moved to a new location. The growth
strategy is reflected in a clearly increased capital expenditure volume.
Compared to the previous year’s € 4.3 million, capital expenditure in the
first nine months more than doubled to € 9.7 million. These investments in
new plant capacity also helped to create 36 new jobs, so that the headcount
increased from 633 at the beginning of the year to 669 on September 30,
2007. As the new staff were hired in the course of the year 2007, this
increase is not yet fully reflected in average number of employees.
Outlook remains optimistic
Basically, the Managing Board confirmed its projections for the full year
2007. The Managing Board estimates that sales will exceed the original
target of € 160 million. In view of the special tax effect outlined above,
which was not taken into account in the planning for 2007, the Managing
Board now projects a net profit between € 9.5 and € 10.0 million, up from
the previously projected bandwidth of € 8.7 to € 9.2 million.
The Group’s key figures for the first nine months of 2007 are summarised
below:
01.01.- 01.01.- Change
30.09. 30.09.
2007 2006
------------------------------------------------- -------- ------- ------
Sales EUR '000 126,703 114,819 10.4%
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)EUR '000 11,640 9,931 17.2%
Earnings before income taxes EUR '000 10,840 9,087 19.3%
Net profit EUR '000 7,412 5,654 31.1%
Earnings per share EUR/share 2.66 2.03 31.0%
Cash flow EUR '000 13,566 11,942 13.6%
Capital expenditures EUR '000 9,740 4,303 126.4%
Depreciation EUR '000 6,500 6,174 5.3%
Number of employees (average) 649 631 2.9%
Gummersbach, November 2, 2007
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
02.11.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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Language: English
Issuer: 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
E-mail: investor@as-creation.de
Internet: http://www.as-creation.de
ISIN: DE0005079909
WKN: 507990
Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in
Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf
End of News DGAP News-Service
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