CeWe Color Holding AG / Preliminary Results
29.01.2009
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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CeWe Color fourth quarter strong in line with expectations
Forecast achieved: 2008 turnover at approx. 415 to 420 million euros
Earnings before tax and restructuring at around 20 to 25 million euros
Number of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS increases by 75 percent to 2.6 million books
in 2008
Great success with print products
Oldenburg, 29 January 2009. CeWe Color Holding AG (Prime Standard, ISIN:
DE0005403901) achieved projected turnover and earnings for the 2008
business year with positive Christmas business as expected: turnover was
around 415 to 420 million euros (2007 413.5 million euros) and earnings
before tax and restructuring, as forecast, were in the range of around 20
to 25 million euros (2007 27.8 million euros). This means that CeWe Color
has made up for the slight deficit of -1.2 percent in turnover from the
first nine months against that of the same period of 2007. As already
announced, the considerable volume of sales in the final quarter and the
seasonal shift are due to the rising significance of the CEWE PHOTO BOOK
and photo gift articles.
Sales of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS showed an outstanding development: an increase of
74.8 percent to 2.64 million books (2007 1.51 million books) enabled CeWe
Color to reinforce its market leader position on the European market for
photo books. The rate of growth last year (+1.132 million) once again
increased significantly over that of the 2007 business year (+0.988
million). This makes the CEWE PHOTO BOOK a significant growth driver for
digital photos, with the volume for the full year rising by 17.9 percent to
1.8 million photos, and in the fourth quarter by as much as 22.0 percent.
As anticipated, the number of photos from analogue films decreased at the
same time by 35.1 percent to 0.83 billion photos (2007 1.28 billion).
Great success was also achieved with photo calendars, greeting cards and
photo canvases, with growth in volume and sales amounting to at least 70
percent and in some cases even more than this. Internet business succeeded
more than any other product, increasing by 37.5 percent. In this line of
business, consumers place their orders online and receive products from the
50,000 trade partner retail stores or by post.
With 175 photos produced per second on the peak day, huge demand in
December ensured record volumes for CeWe Color. 'Demand for our products
broke all records in the final quarter of 2008 and last year's investments
are paying off,' says Dr. Rolf Hollander, Chairman of the Board of
Management of CeWe Color Holding AG.
Digital print competence further enhanced
It was mainly high-margin digital products that played a major role in the
fourth quarter with its high turnover and earnings. The transformation from
analogue to digital photography which has seen great progress over the past
ten years, with investments in these new digital products amounting to more
than 200 million euros, has in the meantime enabled CeWe Color to move
forward to become Europe's largest digital printer in the segment for
high-quality, four-colour prints. In order to acquire new customer segments
and to utilise new sales channels for their digital print products, CeWe
Color also acquired a leading provider of software programs and consulting
services in the area of professional digital printing for web-to-print
solutions in diron GmbH & Co. KG . This means that in addition to the
best-selling CEWE PHOTO BOOK product and strong growth in sales of photo
gift articles, the web-to-print area in particular will develop to become a
new growth driver. 'As Europe's leading photo services company, CeWe will
in future be utilising considerable additional potential in the area of
high-quality digital prints for the benefit of industrial customers,' says
Dr. Hollander.
Essential investment volume drops perceivably
After considerable investment in the area of digital printing, the
investment volume is set to drop perceivably over the coming few years in
2009 the amount invested will drop by more than 30 percent to around 22
million euros.
About CeWe Color: Photo service company CeWe Color, with 15
highly-technical production operations and a staff of around 2,800
employees in 24 European countries, is both market and technological
leader. The company supplied around 2.8 billion photos, more than 1.5
million CEWE PHOTO BOOKS and photo gift articles to more than 50,000 retail
partners in 2007. In 2007 turnover amounted to EUR 413.5 million. CeWe
Color is 'first mover' in the launch of new digital technologies, for
example ordering digital photos in the Internet or with the help of order
terminals (DigiFoto Makers) in retail stores. Sales of personalised CEWE
PHOTO BOOKS are developing extremely well. In 1961, CeWe Color was founded
by Senator h.c. Heinz Neumüller. The company went public under the
leadership of Hubert Rothärmel. CeWe Color Holding AG is listed on the
Prime Standard.
Should you have any queries, please contact:
CeWe Color Holding, Hella Hahm (-400) or Axel Weber (-552)
Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 234, Fax: 0441 / 404 - 421,
Email: IR@cewecolor.de, Internet:www.cewecolor.de or www.cewe-fotobuch.de
DGAP 29.01.2009
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Language: English
Issuer: CeWe Color Holding AG
Meerweg 30-32
26133 Oldenburg
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)441 40 4-1
Fax: +49 (0)441 40 4-42 1
E-mail: IR@cewecolor.deInternet: www.cewecolor.de
ISIN: DE0005403901
WKN: 540390
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Hannover, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf,
Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-News: CeWe Color fourth quarter strong in line with expectations
| Quelle: EQS Group AG