EANS-News: SALZGITTER AG - First half-year of 2010
The Salzgitter Group records pre-tax profit again in the second quarter of 2010
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6-month report
Subtitle: The Salzgitter Group records pre-tax profit again in the second quarter of 2010
Salzgitter (euro adhoc) - The positive earnings trend of the Salzgitter Group continued in the second quarter of the financial year 2010 in the form of a pre-tax profit. Contributing factors included the satisfactory capacity utilization situation of most product segments and the sharp increase in selling prices in steel trading operations. Particularly when compared with the crisis-ridden previous year's period, the business of the Group has clearly stabilized. The majority of leading indicators support a more confident assessment of the outlook for business in the second half-year. The consolidated sales of the Group, which came to EUR 4,034.2 million (first half of 2009: EUR 4,125.7 million) fell marginally short of the year-earlier level. In the second quarter of 2010, the Salzgitter Group generated an operating pre-tax profit of EUR 18.6 million (second quarter of 2009: EUR -96.9 million), bringing the first half of 2010 to a close with an operating profit before tax of EUR 21.2 million (first half of 2009: EUR -158.6 million). This half-yearly operating result already includes EUR 13.2 million in provisions for onerous contracts in connection with project orders booked and confirmed where the costs of production are presumably no longer covered due to the exorbitant increases in the price of raw materials. The reported pre-tax result of the first half-year came to EUR -5.1 million (first half of 2009: EUR -195.2 million) and includes an additional EUR 26.3 million in provisions for streamlining measures. Profit after tax stood at EUR -3.5 million (first half of 2009: EUR -165.0 million), and earnings per share posted EUR -0.11 (first half of 2009: EUR -3.07). Return on capital employed (ROCE) of an annualized 0.4 % was in the black again (first half of 2009: EUR -8.1 %).
External sales by Division (EUR million):
H1 2010 (H1 2009) Steel 1,081.6 (799.9) Trading 1,409.2 (1,683.7) Tubes 892.0 (1,107.9) Services 195.3 (146.4) Technology 429.7 (367.5) Others/Cons. 26.4 (20.5) Group 4,034.2 (4,125.7)
Earnings before tax by Division (EUR million):
H1 2010 (H1 2009) Steel -76,2 (-190.2) Trading 43.4 (-57.7) Tubes 13.1 (96.0) Services 11.4 (-5.4) Technology -15.7 (-43.7) Others/Cons. 18.9 (5.8) Group -5.1 (-195.2)
The short-lived fluctuations in the price of raw materials are a hindrance to any planning certainty. For this reason alone, it is currently not possible to arrive at an accurate, quantitative forecast for sales and profit of the Salzgitter Group. In consideration of the currently discernible risks and potential, we nonetheless believe that a pre-tax result above breakeven is achievable in the current financial year. As in recent years, we make special reference to the fact that opportunities and risks from currently unforeseeable trends in selling prices, input materials and capacity utilization developments, as well as changes in the currency parity, may still affect performance considerably over the course of the financial year 2010. The resulting fluctuation in the consolidated pre-tax result may, as events in the first half year have shown, be within a considerable range, either to the positive or to the negative. The dimensions of this range become clear if one considers that, with around 4 million tons of steel products to be sold by the end of this year by the Steel, Trading and Tubes divisions, an average difference of EUR 30 in the margin per ton is sufficient to cause a variation in the annual result of more than EUR 120 million. More information can be found in the full press release and interim report published today. (please refer to: www.salzgitter-ag.de).
end of announcement euro adhoc --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further inquiry note:
Bernhard Kleinermann
Tel.: +49 (0) 5341-21-3783
E-Mail: kleinermann.b@salzgitter-ag.de
Branche: Iron & Steel
ISIN: DE0006202005
WKN: 620200
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Original content of: Salzgitter AG, transmitted by news aktuell