CENIT AG Systemhaus / Final Results
30.03.2009
Release of a Adhoc News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Incoming orders up 32% to 105 m EUR
Stuttgart, 30 March 2009 - CENIT AG's final financial statement for 2008 is
defined by a solid balance-sheet structure that protects our customers'
future investment decisions. The past business year was also characterized
by a 13 percent increase in staffing and significant 32% growth in incoming
orders, to a total of 105 m EUR. CENIT expects stable business development
during the 2009 business year. Against the backdrop of the global economic
crisis, securing the financial independence of CENIT Group remains a core
challenge.
Annual Financial Statement 2008
During the 2008 business year, CENIT Group achieved consolidated sales of
83.4 m EUR (2007: 77.1 m EUR/ 8%). Gross profit amounted to 61.1 m EUR
(2007: 58.4 m EUR/ 5%). EBITDA reached 6.2 m EUR (2007: 9.5 m EUR/ -35%).
During the reporting period, EBIT were down 43% from 8.4 m EUR to 4.8 m
EUR. 2008 ended with EBT of 5.3 m EUR (2007: 9 m EUR/ -41%) and
consolidated EPS of 0.40 EUR (2007: 0.73 EUR). A significant slowdown of
investment in our customer segments, resulting from the overall downturn of
the global economy, already became evident in mid-2008. Customers failed to
place important orders in the software and service sectors when expected.
After the largest order in CENIT AG's history was signed by EADS in May,
the launch date of the service contract was postponed to July 2008. As a
result, our business again picked up speed during the second half of the
year. On 31 December 2008, the number of employees Group-wide was 721
(2007: 636) - a satisfactory 13% increase in view of the shortage of
skilled professionals.
Asset and Financial Situation
The conservative financial policies pursued by CENIT Group during past
years are now paying off. The Group's financial position is secure and
stable. On the balance sheet date, equity capital amounted to 25.4 m EUR
(2007: 26.2 m EUR), while bank deposits and short-term securities totalled
13.2 m EUR (2007: 18.3 m EUR). In addition to liquid assets, the Group
continues to have sufficient current account lines at its disposal.
Accounts receivable and accounts payable both reflect the business trend.
CENIT's financial independence permits internal financing appropriate to
the business trend. Under the aspect of restrictive credit approval by
lending institutions, this constitutes a competitive advantage for the
future of CENIT Group and offers our customers the investment security they
need.
Proposal on the Allocation of Profit
At the general shareholders' meeting on 29 May 2009, the managing and
supervisory boards will propose that the net profit be allocated to
retained income. The prime focus is on assuring long-term liquidity and
preserving financial independence. As a result, our business finances rest
on a secure, sustainable foundation despite the unfavourable framework
conditions brought on by the global financial crisis. The available liquid
assets give CENIT Group the opportunity to continue acting as required by
the interests of the enterprise and its shareholders, and thus to keep
participating in the growth of the markets we target. Among these efforts
is the expansion of our service and software activities in the aerospace
industry. But we also need capital input to offer the right technological
and software responses to newly arising topics. A further way to maintain a
decisive competitive edge is to continue investing in employee training.
Our employees' expertise in highly complex technical fields is a basic
prerequisite for the success of CENIT Group, and we intend to hold on to
this advantage. Against this background, our financial strategy remains
targeted at preserving positive, long-term solvency. To this end, the prime
objective of CENIT's financial management is to secure adequate short- and
medium-term liquidity. Ultimately, the positive financial condition of
CENIT Group also gives us a crucial competitive advantage in terms of order
intake. This in turn gives our customers the security they need when making
investment decisions, e.g. in favour of services provided by CENIT Group.
As soon as the overall economic situation permits, we shall return to the
dividend policy practised in previous years.
Incoming Orders
Orders received by CENIT Group during the past business year 2008 totalled
105 m EUR (2007: 79.6 m EUR/ +32%). Orders in hand as at 31 December
totalled 30.2 m EUR (2007: 16.9 m EUR/ +78%).
Breakdown of Consolidated Sales by Business Segment
CENIT's PLM business segment achieved sales of 57.9 m EUR (2007: 48.6 m
EUR/ +19%). The EIM business segment attained sales of 25.4 m EUR (2007:
28.5 m EUR/ -11%).
Sales in the service sector increased against the previous year by 14% to
52.56 m EUR (2007: 46.18 m EUR). This made the service sector the largest
contributor to overall sales, with a share of almost 63%. Sales of CENIT
software totalled 9.25 m EUR during the past business year (2007: 9.18 m
EUR/ 1%). Sales of proprietary software thus accounted for approx. 11% of
total sales. Sales of third-party software grew by 46% to 18.47 m EUR
(2007: 12.61 m EUR), accounting for 22% of overall sales. Hardware sales
(now outsourced) decreased as expected by 66% to 3.10 m EUR (2007: 9.09 m
EUR), or approx. 4% of total CENIT sales.
Holdings
During the past business year, CENIT (Switzerland) AG achieved sales
exposure of 4.9 m EUR (2007: 3.9 m EUR), at EBIT of 2.4 m EUR (2007: 2.2 m
EUR).
CENIT North America attained sales of 6.1 m EUR (2007: 5.9 m EUR),
accounting for EBIT of -0.1 m EUR (2007: 0.5 m EUR).
CENIT SRL Romania achieved total sales of 0.7 m EUR (2007: 0.4 m EUR) at
EBIT of 0.2 m EUR (2007: 0.06 m EUR).
During the 2007 business year, CENIT established a subsidiary in France.
The company remains in the start-up phase and primarily supports our
customer EADS Airbus in Toulouse. With sales totalling 0.3 m EUR (2007:
0.06 m EUR), CENIT France SARL achieved EBIT of 23 K EUR (2007: -3 K EUR).
On 27 December 2007, CENIT AG succeeded in acquiring cad scheffler, our
long-term PLM competitor and highly successful Dassault Systèmes Partner.
The company was integrated into CENIT Group effective 1 January 2008. As a
provider of PLM system solutions, cad scheffler GmbH, based near Chemnitz,
is a specialist for the Dassault Systèmes PLM product CATIA. Since 2008,
the company has reinforced our joint top position in the PLM consulting and
software market both nationally and internationally. Cad scheffler achieved
sales of approx 2.4 m EUR in 2008, accounting for EBIT of 0.3 m EUR.
Outlook
For the 2009 business year, we expect stable development of sales and
results. However, the increasing uncertainties abounding in the financial
and real markets currently preclude quantifiable projections. More specific
commentary on the current business year will be provided as part of our
quarterly reporting. For 2010/2011, we expect that the global economy will
emerge from its recession phase and again achieve moderate growth. Unless
our business is adversely affected by a further, prolonged economic
downturn, we plan to return to our path of long-term growth and expect
increasing sales and improved results in 2010/2011. Against the backdrop of
the global economic crisis, the prime focus must be on securing the
financial independence of CENIT Group. Ultimately, this also gives CENIT a
decisive competitive advantage: More than ever, our customers value a solid
balance sheet and a high equity ratio, and these we intend to preserve.
With a forward-looking strategy aimed at acquiring new customers and
exploiting important market opportunities, but also at the continued
portfolio expansion vital to a high-tech enterprise, we plan to
successfully position and strengthen CENIT Group in the months to come.
About CENIT: The enterprise has been active as a specialist for product
lifecycle management, enterprise content management solutions and
application management outsourcing since 1988. CENIT is listed on the Prime
Standard of Deutsche Börse and currently employs more than 720 staff. Among
others, CENIT serves clients such as Allianz, BMW, Daimler, EADS Airbus,
LBS, Metro, and VW. Many of our customers are medium-sized enterprises,
particularly from the automotive industry and the mechanical engineering
sector, e.g. Dürr, Georg Fischer, Leoni or Webasto.
http://www.cenit.de
Please send queries to:
CENIT AG Systemhaus,
Fabian Rau
Industriestraße 52-54, D-70565 Stuttgart
Tel.:+497117825-3185
Fax:+49711782544-4185
Email: f.rau@cenit.de
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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:
Additional information:
This press/ad hoc report may contain future-oriented statements regarding
the business, financial and earnings situation of as well as profit
projections for CENIT. Such future-oriented statements are characterized by
terms or statements such as 'the company may' or 'the company will',
'expects', 'assumes ', 'is considering', 'intends o', 'plans', 'believes',
'will continue to' and/or 'estimates', as well as similar terms and
statements. Such statements contain no guarantee that the projections will
in fact be achieved. Rather, such statements involve risks, imponderables
and assumptions that are difficult to predict and, in addition, are based
on assumptions as to future events which may prove to be incorrect. For
this reason, actual events may diverge significantly from the assumptions
contained in the above statement. In a future-oriented statement by which
CENIT expresses expectations or assumptions with regard to future events,
these expectations or assumptions are made in good faith, and it shall be
assumed that they are made upon an appropriate basis; however, it cannot be
guaranteed that the said statements, expectations or assumptions shall
indeed occur, be attained or fulfilled. The actual operative result may
diverge significantly from such future-oriented statements and is subject
to certain risks. In this regard, please refer to the Business Report of
CENIT AG Systemhaus.
DGAP 30.03.2009
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Language: English
Issuer: CENIT AG Systemhaus
Industriestraße 52 - 54
70565 Stuttgart
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)711 78 25 - 30
Fax: +49 (0)711 78 25 - 4000
E-mail: aktie@cenit.de
Internet: www.cenit.de
ISIN: DE0005407100
WKN: 540710
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Stuttgart;
Freiverkehr in Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-Adhoc: CENIT increases sales and order income
| Source: EQS Group AG