Augsburg, Germany, May 27, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- BOWE SYSTEC AG (Other OTC:BOEWF):
-- Consolidated sales +75% and order intake +86%
-- 50% participation at BOWE Bell + Howell, USA included for the
first time
-- Integration is furthered at highest priority
-- Recovery of integration costs expected from the year's fourth
quarter on
-- Result temporarily slightly negative owing to integration costs
-- Annual surplus of 18 million EUROS expected for the year 20
The BOWE SYSTEC AG (Security no. 523 970) recorded a positive start into the business year 2003 (with increased growth rates in consolidated sales, order intake and backlog). In the first quarter of 2003 the consolidated sales of BOWE SYSTEC amounted to EUR 77.5 million compared to EUR 44.4 million in the previous year. The order intake increased from EUR 42.9 million to a new peak value of EUR 79.8 million, a plus of 86%. At the end of the quarter the backlog totalled EUR 64.8 million, which is more than twice as high as at the end of March 2002 (EUR 32.1 million).
This significant growth of the BOWE SYSTEC Group is the result of the 50% consolidation of BOWE Bell + Howell, USA, following the merger with the former competitor Bell+Howell in the USA completed in December 2002. Thus, the presence on the American market has been strengthened multifold. Fortunately, the BOWE SYSTEC subsidiaries in Europe and Asia recorded increasing demands as well.
As expected, the result before taxes of the first quarter 2003 decreased from EUR 3.3 million to EUR 0.2 million owing to the numerous integration measures started during the first months of the business year as well as the costs of financing and goodwill amortisations, however also owing to a clearly lower backlog at the beginning of the business year compared to the previous year. The net result dropped to EUR -1.4 million owing to increased tax payments. However, this is only a temporary effect. The Board of Directors expects the integration to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2003. The numerous advantages should recover the arising costs as soon as the fourth quarter.
The BOWE SYSTEC Group has important advantages over its competition thanks to the merger, which entails a clearly improved market position on the US market, the combination of state-of-the-art products of BOWE SYSTEC and of the service network of Bell + Howell all over Northern America as well as a clearly enlarged customer basis. As a result, the Board of Directors expects a vigorous increase in consolidated sales for the total year of 2003 between EUR 320 million and EUR 340 million compared to EUR 204.6 million in the previous year. Taking into consideration the integration costs, the objective is to achieve a net result of EUR 18 million (compared to EUR 14.0 million in 2002). The following business years are expected to bring further noticeable and positive effects.
3 months
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Business year 2003 2002 2001
------------- --------- -------- --------
Order intake (million EUR) 79.8 42.9 50.1
Consolidated sales (million EUR) 77.5 44.4 48.1
EBITDA (million EUR) 6.0 6.0 5.7
EBIT (million EUR) 2.6 4.0 4.4
EBT (million EUR) 0.2 3.3 3.3
Net result (million EUR) -1.4 1.8 1.8
EPS (EUR) -0.23 0.30 0.30
Personnel 2,746 1,883 1,832
The full interim report is attached http://reports.huginonline.com/905532/118691.pdf
- BOWE SYSTEC AG
The Board of Directors
CONTACT: BOWE SYSTEC AG
Investor Relations
Phone: +49(0)821/5702-365
Fax: +49(0)821/5702-214
Email: Just.controlling@boewe-systec.de