Schaltbau Group upwardly revises forecast for 2010 at half-year

Schaltbau Holding AG / Half Year Results

22.07.2010 12:09

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Schaltbau Group upwardly revises forecast for 2010 at half-year

Munich, 22 July 2010 - Sustained by a strong recovery in the world economy,
the Schaltbau Group performed better in the first half of 2010 than
forecast at the beginning of the year. In view of the improved situation
and the positive outlook for the months to come, the earnings forecast for
the full year has now been upwardly adjusted. Earnings per share of EUR
6.10 for the year are now predicted, well up on the previous forecast of
EUR 5.40.

Order intake for the Schaltbau Group grew by around 9 per cent to EUR 153.3
million during the period under report, exceeding the Group's own
expectations and surpassing last year's figure of EUR 140.4 million. The
growth is largely attributable to business performance in the 2nd quarter,
in which incoming orders rose sharply to reach EUR 75.1 million (Q2 2009:
EUR 61.1 million).

Sales performance in the first half of the year continued to be held down
by the weak order situation towards the end of 2009 and by delays in the
delivering of orders caused by the harsh weather conditions in spring 2010.
In the second quarter, however, the Group recorded moderate sales growth to
achieve EUR 71.8 million (Q2 2009: EUR 69.9 million). Therefore with sales
revenue of EUR 133.9 million for the six-month period under report (2009:
EUR 142.5 million) the deficit on the previous year has slightly decreased.

Both order intake and sales rose in the Mobile Transportation Technology
segment. Business performance in the Door Systems for Railway Vehicles
product group was outstanding. In the Stationary Transportation Technology
segment, delayed deliveries of railway crossings and point heating systems
due to the severe winter conditions had not yet been compensated for in the
second quarter 2010. The Brake Systems business field reported sales well
below those of the previous year due to the weak order situation for
container terminals. However, the order situation for wind power brakes
improved pleasingly. After a very strong March, the Components segment
again showed positive growth in revenues during the second quarter.
Switches and contactors were in particularly high demand.

Due to the increased processing of orders, particularly in the Rail
Infrastructure business field, total output reached EUR 137.8 million
during the period under report and was up on the previous year (2009: EUR
136.1 million), achieving earnings from operating activities (EBIT) of EUR
10.3 million. Despite the figure being 9.6 per cent lower than for the
first six months of 2009, the gap to the previous year is closing
unexpectedly quickly when compared to the first quarter 2010. At 7.7% the
EBIT margin came close to achieving the good result of 8.0% seen one year
earlier.

Due to the improvement of EUR 0.4 million in Group net profit in the second
quarter compared with 2009, the figure of EUR 6.5 million for the first
half of 2010 is meanwhile only EUR 1.5 million below that of last year.
Earnings per share amounted to EUR 2.87 (2009: EUR 3.76).

The level of sales over the last few months and the higher sales expectancy
for the third quarter caused working capital to increase by EUR 15.6
million, despite higher advance payments and trade accounts payable
compared to the balance sheet date on 31 December 2009. These factors and
the deliberately retained cash reserves are the principle reasons for the
higher level of total assets, which rose from EUR 167.9 million to EUR
191.5 million. Despite this, the equity ratio including participation
rights capital, which is similar in nature to equity, improved slightly to
16.6%.

Group Key Financial Figures representing business performance for the first
two quarters of the fiscal years 2009 / 2010:


                                 Q1/   Q2/    Half-   Q1/   Q2/    Half-
                                  09    09   year 09   10    10   year 10
Order intake               EUR   79.3  61.1   140.4   78.2  75.1   153.3
                            m.
Order book                 EUR   188   179    179.7   179   182    182.6
                            m.    .7    .7             .4    .6
Sales                      EUR   72.6  69.9   142.5   62.1  71.8   133.9
                            m.
EBIT                       EUR   6.1   5.3     11.4   4.2   6.1     10.3
                            m.
Group net profit for the   EUR   4.3   3.7      8.0   2.5   4.1      6.5
period                      m.
Profit attributable to     EUR   3.7   3.4      7.0   1.9   3.5      5.4
shareholders of the AG      m.
Earnings per share         EUR   1.96  1.80    3.76   1.01  1.86    2.87
(undiluted)
Group equity               EUR   11.9  14.4    14.4   21.7  24.6    24.6
                            m.





Kontakt:
Wolfdieter Bloch
Schaltbau Holding AG
Hollerithstraße 5
81829 München
Tel. 089 - 93005 209
Fax  089 - 93005 318
bloch@schaltbau.de






22.07.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Press Release
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Language:     English
Company:      Schaltbau Holding AG
              Hollerithstraße 5
              81829 München
              Deutschland
Phone:        089 - 93005 - 209
Fax:          089 - 93005 - 318
E-mail:       bloch@schaltbau.de
Internet:     www.schaltbau.de
ISIN:         DE0007170300, DE000A0D66Z2, DE000A0TFWY1
WKN:          717030, A0D66Z2, A0TFWY1
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), München;
              Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
 
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
 
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