EANS-News: AMAG Austria Metall AG
Significant earnings growth and record
shipments in FY 2016 (with photo)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial Figures/Balance Sheet/annual result/annual report - Record shipments of more than 400,000 tonnes - EBITDA of EUR 143.0 million up 15 % year-on-year - Net income after taxes grows 14 % to EUR 46.3 million - Unchanged dividend of EUR 1.20 per share proposed - AMAG 2020 expansion project running on schedule and on budget The 2016 financial year was a successful one for AMAG Austria Metall AG. The company achieved record shipments for the sixth consecutive year. Driven by strong demand for aluminium, especially from the transport industry, shipments climbed to an all-time high of 405,900 tonnes (up 6 %). Net income after taxes improved 14 % year on year from EUR 40.5 million to EUR 46.3 million. The volume and earnings growth underscores the growth course at the Group's main site in Ranshofen, supported by the installation of new equipment and productivity improvements. Helmut Wieser, CEO of AMAG Austria Metall AG: "With our rolled products, we're growing faster than the market, boosting our volumes for sheets and plates for the aircraft industry by 24 %, and strips for the packaging industry by 13 %. With the megatrend to lightweight design in automotive construction, the use of aluminium has excellent growth potentials - here we achieved 44 % volume growth with our rolled products." Revenue of EUR 906.2 million was at the previous year's level (EUR 913.3 million). Higher shipment volumes almost fully offset effects from the lower alverage aluminium price. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up by 15 % year-on-year, growing from EUR 123.9 million to EUR 143.0 million. Higher shipment volumes, enhanced productivity, more favourable raw materials costs and cost optimisation measures at the Canadian location contributed to this positive earnings trend. The AMAG Group achieved an operating result (EBIT) of EUR 73.0 million in the 2016 financial year, 33 % up on the previous year's EUR 54.7 million. Consolidated net income after taxes improved by 14 %, from EUR 40.5 million to EUR 46.3 million. As a result of its organic growth course, AMAG reported a record level of investments of EUR 201.3 million in 2016, of which around EUR 165 million was attributable to the plant expansion in Ranshofen. More than half of this investment spending was financed from cash flow from operating activities, which increased by around 5 % to EUR 114.9 million (2015: EUR 109.9 million). Gearing thereby also remained at a solid level of 35.8 % as of the end of December 2016. Equity of EUR 630.5 million was almost unchanged compared with the previous year's end (EUR 638.0 million). Total assets increased to EUR 1,389.7 million (December 31, 2015: EUR 1,104.3 million) mainly due to investments in the plant expansion and the recognition on the balance sheet of the beneficial new electricity contract for the Canadian site. The equity ratio declined from 57.8 % to 45.4 % accordingly. Due to the positive business trend, the Management Board proposes to the AGM a year-on-year unchanged dividend of EUR 1.20 per share. This corresponds to a dividend yield of 4.0 % in relation to the volume-weighted average share price in 2016. FY 2017 outlook Rising demand for aluminium and its alloys forms the very promising basis for the growth path the company is pursuing, and for a positive business trend in the coming years. An important milestone is being set in AMAG's strategic development with the commissioning of the new cold rolling mill and further finishing plants planned for June 2017, which will increase capacity for aluminium rolled products to more than 300,000 tonnes. Taking the planned ramp-up curve into account, AMAG will consequently benefit from a further rise in shipments in the 2017 financial year. Helmut Wieser, CEO of AMAG: "We will conclude the second stage of our plant expansion in June this year, with Europe's most state-of-the-art aluminium rolling mill going into operation after a record 16-month construction period. The plant expansion is creating a total of 450 new jobs at our Ranshofen site, 360 of which have already been created." AMAG Group revenue and earnings are nevertheless also significantly affected by price trends on raw materials and currency markets. As experience shows, such markets prove very volatile. Therefore it is still too early to provide a revenue and results forecast for the 2017 financial year. Overall, however, the Management Board is confident that EBITDA can at least reach the level of the 2016 financial year. AMAG - key figures _____________________________________________________________________________ |in_EUR_million___|_______________2016|_______________2015|_____________Change| |Shipments in | 405,900| 381,300| 6.5 %| |tonnes___________|___________________|___________________|___________________| |of which external| | | | |shipments in | 375,200| 347,100| 8.1 %| |tonnes___________|___________________|___________________|___________________| |Revenue__________|______________906.2|______________913.3|_____________-0.8_%| |EBITDA___________|______________143.0|______________123.9|_____________15.5_%| |EBIT_____________|_______________73.0|_______________54.7|_____________33.4_%| |Net income after | 46.3| 40.5| 14.2 %| |taxes____________|___________________|___________________|___________________| |Cash flow from | | | | |operating | 114.9| 109.9| 4.5 %| |activities_______|___________________|___________________|___________________| |Cash flow from | | | | |investing | -185.4| -91.2| -103.2 %| |activities_______|___________________|___________________|___________________| |Employees1)______|______________1,762|______________1,704|______________3.4_%| ______________________________________________________________________________ |in_EUR_million|_______Dec._31,_2016|_______Dec._31,_2015|_______________Change| |Equity________|_______________630.5|_______________638.0|_______________-1.2_%| |Equity_ratio__|______________45.4_%|______________57.8_%|____________________-| 1) Average number of employees (full-time equivalents) including temporary help workers and excluding apprentices. The figure includes a 20 percent pro rata share of the labour force at the Alouette smelter, in line with the equity holding. Pictures with Announcement: ---------------------------------------------- http://resources.euroadhoc.com/us/PaepoIhZ http://resources.euroadhoc.com/us/HkrkGSD6 Further inquiry note: Investor contact: Dipl.Kfm. Felix Demmelhuber Head of Investor Relations AMAG Austria Metall AG Lamprechtshausenerstrasse 61 5282 Ranshofen, Austria Tel.: +43 (0) 7722-801-2203 Email: investorrelations@amag.at Press contact: Dipl.Ing. Leopold Pöcksteiner Head of Strategy, Communication, Marketing AMAG Austria Metall AG Lamprechtshausenerstrasse 61 5282 Ranshofen, Austria Tel.: +43 (0) 7722-801-2205 Email: publicrelations@amag.at end of announcement euro adhoc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pictures with Announcement: ---------------------------------------------- http://resources.euroadhoc.com/us/PaepoIhZ ; http://resources.euroadhoc.com/us/HkrkGSD6 ; company: AMAG Austria Metall AG Lamprechtshausenerstraße 61 A-5282 Ranshofen phone: +43 7722 801 0 FAX: +43 7722 809 498 mail: investorrelations@amag.at WWW: www.amag.at sector: Metal Goods & Engineering ISIN: AT00000AMAG3 indexes: WBI, ATX Prime, VÖNIX, ATX BI, ATX GP stockmarkets: official market: Wien language: English
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