Q3 sales and earnings again surging at Vossloh
Executive Board reaffirms raised 12-month forecastThe third quarter of 2003 saw another strong performance on the part of the Vossloh Group whose 3Q sales compared with the year-earlier period advanced by more than €113 million or around 23 percent to €605.9 million. Nine-month Group EBIT climbed from €49.9 million in 2002 to €74.1 million in the current year, an improvement of 48.5 percent. The EBIT margin progressed from 10.1 to 12.2 percent.
As in the first nine months of 2002, the 3Q/2003 EBIT was affected by gains from the disposal of the VAE Group as well as provisions for risks. Adjusted for these factors, EBIT surged from €35.5 million in 2002 to €59.6 million this year (up 68 percent). The adjusted EBIT margin advanced from 7.2 to 9.8 percent.
3Q/2003 Group earnings added up to €44.3 million, a rise of almost 14 percent over 3Q/2002's €38.9 million. Besides the nonrecurring effects reflected in the EBIT, Group earnings as of September 30, 2002, also included (in a separate line after net income) the EBT of €5.4 million originating from the discontinued Lighting operations, shed as of July 31, 2002.
The surge in 9-month sales was mainly attributable to growth by Vossloh Locomotives (up €32 million), Vossloh Fastening Systems (up €31 million), and Vossloh Information Technologies (up €20 million). Acquired in late 2002, Vossloh Electrical Systems (previously Kiepe Group), Vossloh Switch Systems (previously Cogifer SA) and Vossloh Infrastructure Services (previously Cogifer TF) together contributed €321 million to 3Q/2003 sales.
As of September 30, 2003, and compared with a year ago, Group equity had grown by €47.0 million to €285.6 million, the equity ratio improving sharply from 25.2 to 29.0 percent. A year before, the comparable Group equity had been around €220 million, with the equity ratio roughly equaling the year-end’s of 25 percent.
Business during the first nine months of 2003 prompts Vossloh AG's Executive Board to reaffirm the 12-month forecast raised in Q2/2003 according to which Group sales are expected at €890 million and EBIT at €97 million. This would mean sales almost 20 percent over the €744.5 million in 2002. The expected EBIT would top the year-earlier €78.4 million by around 24 percent. At €53.5 million, Group earnings would even outpace the high year-earlier €52.4 million. ROCE is likely to climb from 13.3 to a good 15 percent.
Werdohl, October 27, 2003
For more information contact:
Christiane Konrad, Vossloh AG,
phone (+49-2392) 52-249