A.S. Création Tapeten AG / Final Results
12.03.2009
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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A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Europe's leading wallpaper manufacturer, reports
2008 sales revenues at the highest level in the history of the company.
This was today announced by the Managing Board on the occasion of the
publication of the consolidated financial statements for 2008. At EUR 176.2
million, Group sales were up by 5.1% on the previous year's EUR 167.6
million. Even stronger growth was prevented by the international economic
crisis, which had an adverse effect on A.S. Création's business in the
second half of the year. Accordingly, the company incurred a 1.1% decline
in sales in the last six months of 2008.
Overall, sales in fiscal 2008 were not sufficient for full utilisation of
the expanded production capacity of the Wallpaper Division. Increased
commodity and energy prices, which led to a rise in production costs, also
weighed on the company's earnings position. Due to these adverse factors,
the increase in sales failed to be reflected in higher earnings. At EUR
12.9 million, earnings before taxes were down 11.7% on the previous year's
EUR 14.6 million. As a result, the EBIT margin declined from 8.7% in the
previous year to 7.3% in 2008. Against the background of the unfavourable
economic environment, especially in the second half of 2008, the Managing
Board views the result positively, in spite of the decline in earnings.
The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of EUR
1.40 per share (previous year: EUR 1.60) to the General Meeting of
Shareholders. Based on earnings per share in an amount of EUR 3.22
(previous year: EUR 3.59), this represents a payout ratio of 43.5%
(previous year: 44.6%). The company will thus continue its dividend policy,
which provides for a high payout ratio as long as this is permitted by the
company's financial situation, and underline the A.S. Création share's good
reputation as a high-yield paper.
In spite of the deteriorated economic environment, a number of important
strategic decisions for the future of A.S. Création were taken in 2008. In
particular, this included the expansion of the company's market position in
France through the takeover of two local wallpaper wholesalers, MCF
Investissement SA and SCE SA, which was the largest acquisition in the
history of A.S. Création. Accordingly, capital expenditures reached a
historic high at EUR 23.9 million (previous year: EUR 11.2 million). Given
that the two acquired companies were first consolidated with effect from
December 31, 2008, they made no contribution to sales and earnings of A.S.
Création in 2008.
2009 will certainly be a difficult fiscal year for A.S. Création. As the
Group has started the year with a sound financial structure, the Managing
Board is confident that A.S. Création will be able to expand its market
leadership and improve its competitive position also in these difficult
economic times. Due to the large bandwidth of possible economic trends in
2009, the Managing Board is currently not in a position to issue reliable
projections for the sales and earnings performance of A.S. Création in
fiscal 2009.
The Group's key figures for 2008 at a glance:<pre>
2008 2007 Change
------------------------------------------------- ------- ------- ------
Sales EUR '000 176,216 167,633 5.1%
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)EUR '000 13,502 15,005 -10.0%
Earnings before income taxes EUR '000 12,856 14,562 -11.7%
Net profit EUR '000 8,925 9,982 -10.6%
Earnings per share EUR/share 3.22 3.59 -10.3%
Cash-flow EUR '000 18,058 17,926 0.7%
Capital expenditures EUR '000 23,893 11,232 112.7%
Depreciation EUR '000 8,215 8,397 -2.2%
Number of employees (average) 719 675 6.5%</pre>
Gummersbach, March 12, 2009
A.S. Création Tapeten AG
The Managing Board
The full annual report is available at:
www.as-creation.de
or from:
A.S. Création Tapeten AG
Mrs. Börngen
Südstr. 47
D - 51645 Gummersbach
phone +49-(0)22 61/542-350
e-mail: investor@as-creation.de
Contact:
Maik Krämer
Vorstand Finanzen
Südstr. 47
D-51645 Gummersbach
Telefon + 49 - (0)22 61/542-387
Fax + 49 - (0)22 61/542-304
E-Mail: m.kraemer@as-creation.de
DGAP 12.03.2009
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Language: English
Issuer: A.S. Création Tapeten AG
Südstraße 47
51645 Gummersbach
Deutschland
Phone: +49 22 61 54 2-0
Fax: +49 22 61 54 2-3 04
E-mail: investor@as-creation.de
Internet: http://www.as-creation.de
ISIN: DE0005079909
WKN: 507990
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-News: A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Sales reached new record level in 2008
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