EANS-News: Wolford AG: Detailed figures presented for first quarter of 2017/18
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc with the aim of a Europe-wide distribution. The issuer is responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarterly Report Bregenz - Vienna/Bregenz, September 8, 2017: Wolford AG, which is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, stabilized its revenues in the first quarter of its current financial year (May 2017 - July 2017). Adjusted for currency items, revenues grew by 4.9% to EUR 29.09 million. Consistent with this growth, operating earnings also improved on the weak previous year's quarter (EBIT: EUR -7.22 million; previous year: EUR -8.08 million). Including taxes calculated in line with IAS 34, earnings after tax were also ahead of the previous year's figure (EUR -6.91 million; previous year: EUR -8.03 million). Revenue growth in retail and wholesale businesses The proprietary retail business and the wholesale business both posted year-on- year revenue growth in the first three months, with retail revenues rising by 6.0% and wholesale revenues by 2.2%. The proprietary online business reported very successful developments, with revenue growth of almost 27.9%. This growth was driven by improved product availability and successful marketing campaigns. Growth in most core markets Individual regions showed highly disparate developments in revenues in the first three months. The US, Wolford's largest market in terms of revenues, posted a particularly strong performance, with double-digit revenue growth driven above all by the proprietary online business. Spain, the Netherlands, and East European markets also reported double-digit growth rates. Wolford generated single-digit growth in Italy, Scandinavia, Asia, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Due not least to the impact of Brexit, the depreciation in the British pound, and the closure of three locations, Wolford reported a double- digit reduction in revenues in the UK, a factor which had a moderate impact on earnings. Wolford also reported a single-digit fall in revenues in France and Belgium. Operating earnings up on previous year Operating earnings (EBIT) amounted to EUR -7.22 million, as against EUR -8.08 million in the previous year. On the one hand, the company significantly reduced its inventories, which fell by EUR 3.13 million compared with the previous year's quarter. On the other hand, this also led material costs to decrease by EUR 1.78 million. The establishment of a central sales platform for the EMEA region and the streamlining of administrative structures in Bregenz led staff costs to fall by EUR 1.25 million to EUR 17.43 million. Other operating expenses, by contrast, rose by EUR 1.20 million to EUR 13.29 million. This was due above all to advisory expenses incurred in the first quarter, for example in connection with financing measures. Wolford had an average of 1,491 employees (FTEs) in the first quarter, as against 1,557 employees in the equivalent period in the previous year. Outlook Wolford confirms outlook: For the current financial year, the management has budgeted only slight year-on-year revenue growth and further negative earnings. Implementation of the restructuring measures aimed at improving earnings is governed by a two-year schedule and the relevant measures will only take full effect from the 2018/19 financial year. Wolford expects to generate positive operating earnings once again from then onwards. The report for the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year can be downloaded under company.wolford.com, Investor Relations. http://bit.ly/2xT79s3 [http://bit.ly/2xT79s3] Contact: Maresa Hoffmann (Specialist Investor Relations & Corporate Communications) Tel.: +43 5574 690 1258 | investor@wolford.com | company.wolford.com Earnings Data 05 -07/17 05 -07/16 Chg. in % 2016/17 Revenues in EUR mill. 29.09 27.74 +5 154.28 EBIT in EUR mill. -7.22 -8.08 +11 -15.72 Earnings before tax in EUR mill. -7.44 -8.25 +10 -16.57 Earnings after tax in EUR mill. -6.91 -8.08 +15 -17.88 Capital expenditure in EUR mill. 0.33 2.69 -88 6.72 Free cash flow in EUR mill. -7.08 -14.19 +50 -9.45 Employees (on average) FTE 1 491 1 557 -4 1 544 Balance Sheet Data 31.07.2017 31.07.2016 Chg. in % 30.04.2017 Equity in EUR mill. 38.09 55.81 -32 44.88 Net debt in EUR mill. 37.90 35.59 +7 31.27 Working capital in EUR mill. 44.82 48.72 -8 45.73 Balance sheet total in EUR mill. 129.60 144.14 -10 138.39 Equity ratio in % 29 39 -25 32 Gearing in % 99 64 +55 70 Stock Exchange Data 05 -07/17 05 -07/16 Chg. in % 2016/17 Earnings per share in EUR -1.41 -1.63 +14 -3.64 Share price high in EUR 19.75 25.70 -23 26.01 Share price low in EUR 16.00 24.49 -35 19.10 Share price at end of period in EUR 17.42 25.60 -32 19.28 Shares outstanding (weighted) in 1,000 4,912 4,912 - 4,912 Market capitalization in EUR mill. 87.10 128.00 -32 96.38 (ultimo) *) Figures as of July 31, 2016 retrospectively adjusted due to corrections made in connection with OePR audit review Further inquiry note: Maresa Hoffmann (Specialist Investor Relations & Corporate Communications) Tel.: +43 5574 690 1258 | investor@wolford.com | company.wolford.com end of announcement euro adhoc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- issuer: Wolford Aktiengesellschaft Wolfordstrasse 1 A-6900 Bregenz phone: +43(0) 5574 690-1268 FAX: +43(0) 5574 690-1219 mail: investor@wolford.com WWW: http://company.wolford.com ISIN: AT0000834007 indexes: ATX GP stockmarkets: New York, Frankfurt, Wien language: English
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