2010-11-29
STRABAG SE: Results after nine months 2010 confirm outlook of stable full-year figures
- Slight output volume decline of 3 % to € 9.1 billion in the
first nine months of 2010
- EBITDA up 8 % to € 476 million, EBIT up 10 % to € 193 million
– lower comparison basis of previous year and positive extraordinary
consolidation effect
- Earnings per share rises 5 % from € 0.90 to € 0.95
- Balance sheet total passes € 10 billion mark for first time
- Order backlog reaches € 14.9 billion, a plus of 2 % over the
level from the comparison period in the previous year
- Outlook 2010: expected output volume of € 12.9 billion,
adjusted EBIT of € 280 million – largely stable over the year before
Vienna, 29 November 2010
STRABAG SE, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest construction company,
confirms its outlook on stable output volume and earnings for the full
year 2010 on the occasion of the nine months results release. “For the
current year, we still expect the output volume to show relatively flat
development over the previous year, ending at € 12.9 billion (2009: €
13.0 billion). Our expectation regarding the adjusted earnings before
interest and taxes (EBIT) stands at € 280 million for 2010”, stated
Hans Peter Haselsteiner, CEO of STRABAG SE.
Output volume and Revenue
A number of factors influenced the output volume in the first nine
months of the 2010 financial year, resulting in development in opposing
directions. The construction boom in Poland had a positive effect on
output and, above all in the Transportation Infrastructures segment,
made up for the disadvantageous weather conditions in Europe at the
beginning of the year. In comparison, considerable declines in output
volume were seen in the Transportation Infrastructures segment in
Germany and Hungary. The output volume in the Building Construction
& Civil Engineering segment in Germany also was considerably below
the level of the first nine months of the previous year. This, together
with the lack of projects in tunnelling, added up to a 3 % reduction of
the consolidated output volume to € 9,096.94 million. The picture was
nearly the same with the consolidated group revenue, which fell by 2 %
to € 8,889.24 million in the first nine months of 2010. In the third
quarter of 2010, the revenue, in comparison, was 3 % above the levels
of the same period the year before.
Order Backlog
New orders developed satisfactorily and the order backlog reached €
14,850.84 million, a 2 % plus over the previous year’s level.
Contributing to the development was the expansion in northern European
markets and the Middle East, while declines were registered at the same
time in Germany and Hungary. In Slovakia, the full consolidation of
railway construction subsidiary Viamont DSP a.s. in the first quarter
of 2010 had a positive effect on the order backlog.
Financial Performance
Expenses for raw materials, consumables and other services, as well as
the employee benefits expense, remained stable in the first nine months
measured in terms of the revenue. The earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) nevertheless gained 8 % over the
last year. For one thing, an extraordinary write-off was made in the
third quarter of the previous year on the subsidiary EFKON AG , at the
time still reported in the balance sheet using the equity method, which
had a negative effect on equity-method investments. The higher EBITDA
is also due to the inclusion in the first quarter of a measurement
through profit or loss for railway construction company Viamont DSP of
€ 24.60 million.
The depreciation and amortisation increased by 6 %. This results in
earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of € 192.74 million, which
corresponds to a plus of 10 % over the comparison period of the
previous year. A positive trend could be seen in the third quarter
2010: the EBITDA grew by 4 % to € 289.47 million, while the EBIT
registered growth of 9 % to € 203.10 million. This is also due to the
negative effect from the EFKON write-off of the previous year.
At € -27.51 million, the interest income in the first nine months was
deeper in negative territory than in the comparison period of the
previous year (€ -14.09 million). This was due to the impact of foreign
exchange differences from group-internal financing. The pre-tax result
was € 165.22 million after € 160.52 million in the first nine months of
2009 – a low plus of 3 %.
In response to the higher tax rate of nearly 30 %, the earnings after
taxes fell slightly to € 116.37 million. This decline could be
compensated by the reduced earnings attributable to minority
shareholders, leading to an increase in the consolidated net result by
5 % to € 108.27 million and placing the earnings per share after the
first nine months of the 2010 financial year at € 0.95.
Financial Position and Cash-Flows
The balance sheet total as of 30 September 2010 passed the € 10 billion
mark for the first time in company history. Worth mentioning in this
respect is the increase of the intangible assets in comparison to 31
December 2009, which to a significant degree is the result of the
additional goodwill from the Viamont acquisition. The inventories grew
considerably due to STRABAG’s strong commitment to the project
development business. As a result of the significantly lower level of
cash and cash equivalents, the net cash position at the end of 2009
turned into net debt of € 26.97 million at the end of September 2010.
The equity ratio remained relatively stable at 31.4 % after 32.2 %.
Despite the nearly stable net income, the cash-flow from profits stood
at € 335.43 million, 9 % below the level after the first nine months of
2009. This was the result of non-cash earning effects (initial
consolidation of Viamont). The build-up of the working capital led to a
negative cash-flow from operating activities of € -206.93 million. In
the same period of last year, STRABAG reported a positive cash-flow
from operating activities of
€ 17.91 million. For the full year 2010, the company expects the
working capital development to approach the level of 2008 and the
previous years following the successful reduction of working capital in
2009.
Several large capital expenditures in property, plant and equipment
pushed the cash-flow from investing activities from € -296.33 million
to € -349.50 million. The cash-flow from financing activities was only
slightly negative at € -21.26 million after € -228.04 million; unlike
the same period last year, a corporate bond was issued and bank credits
were taken out this year.
Employees
The average workforce levels in the first nine months of the
ongoing financial year fell by 5 % to 71,913 persons in response to the
structural workforce reductions in the Czech Republic, Hungary and the
Balkan countries. At the same time, increased workforce levels in
Poland compensated the output related declines in Germany and Austria.
Outlook
STRABAG SE announced its business guidance until 2012 at its
Capital Markets Day on 10 November 2010. The company expects a slight
decline in output volume for 2010 from € 13.0 billion to € 12.9
billion. The output volume is expected to rise by 5 % to € 13.5 billion
in 2011 and by 1.5 % to € 13.7 billion in 2012.
STRABAG SE expects the adjusted earnings before interest and taxes
(EBIT) for 2010 to reach € 280 million (2009: € 283 million;
unadjusted, the EBIT would include a positive one-off effect from the
Viamont acquisition in the amount of € 10.6 million). The EBIT margin
of 2.2 % – calculated based on the output volume – is seen as stable in
the years to come for an EBIT of € 295 million in 2011 and € 300
million in 2012.
STRABAG SE is one of Europe’s leading construction groups. With some
75,500 employees, STRABAG generated a construction output volume of €
13.0 billion in the 2009 financial year. As a result, STRABAG is listed
in the Fortune Global 500 list as one the largest companies worldwide.
From its core markets of Austria and Germany, STRABAG is present via
its numerous subsidiaries in all countries of Eastern and South-East
Europe, in selected markets in Western Europe and on the Arabian
Peninsula. STRABAG’s activities span the entire construction industry
(Building Construction and Civil Engineering, Transportation
Infrastructures, Special Foundation Engineering and Tunnelling) and
cover the entire value-added chain in the field of construction. More
information is available at www.strabag.com.
Link
Interim Report January – September 2010