A.S. Création Tapeten AG / AGM/EGM/Quarter Results 05.05.2009 Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A.S. Création reports 19% decline in earnings for Q1 2009. Annual General Meeting approves dividend of EUR 1.40 for 2008. At today's Annual General Meeting in Gummersbach, A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Europe's leading wallpaper manufacturer, presented the report for the three-month period ended March 31, 2009. At EUR 48.9 million, Group sales in the first quarter of 2009 were 1.1% below the previous year's EUR 49.4 million. The 2009 sales figures include the sales generated by MCF Investissement SA and SCE SA, two French wallpaper wholesalers, which were taken over by A.S. Création in December 2008. Like-for-like sales, which are adjusted for these figures, declined by 20.2% in the first quarter of 2009. This negative sales trend is primarily attributable to lower sales revenues in Eastern European markets, where first-quarter sales were 52.6% below the previous year's level as customers were reluctant to place orders in view of the financial crisis and reduced their inventories instead. Moreover, the depreciation of the Eastern European currencies has made the wallpapers of A.S. Création more expensive in these countries and less competitive with local products. Due to the decline in sales, A.S. Création's own capacities were not fully utilised. As a result, the company's internal cost structure has deteriorated, which is reflected in the fact that operating expenses (incl. personnel expenses) as a percentage of total output increased as compared to the previous year. Although raw material and energy costs, which had risen sharply, eased somewhat in the first quarter of 2009, first-quarter earnings before taxes dropped by 19.1% from EUR 4.9 million in the previous year to EUR 4.0 million. The decline in the EBIT margin (before taxes) from the previous year's 9.9% to 8.1% in Q1 2009 reflects the deterioration in the company's earnings position. By contrast, A.S. Création's financial position improved noticeably. In the first three months of the current fiscal year, net financial liabilities were reduced by EUR 6.3 million from EUR 37.8 million at the beginning of the year to EUR 31.5 million on March 31, 2009. This positive trend is not least attributable to the release of tied-up capital resulting from the reduction in inventories. Also, at EUR 1.7 million, capital expenditures were EUR 2.0 million or 55.1% below the previous year's level of EUR 3.7 million, as the expansion of the production capacity was completed (for the time being) in 2008. Against the background of the poor economic environment, the Managing Board is generally satisfied with the result of the first quarter of 2009. The report on the three-month period ended March 31, 2009 confirms the Managing Board's view that the company has taken the right measures to master the present financial and economic crisis. The outlook for the further course of the fiscal year 2009 is moderate, as projections about the macroeconomic trend continue to be subject to great uncertainty. The Managing Board of A.S. Création does therefore not consider the performance in the first quarter of 2009 to be an indicator for the full year. Reliable sales and earnings projections are not possible at this stage. The Group's key figures for Q1 2009 at a glance:<pre> 01.01. 01.01. - 31.03. - 31.03. 2009 2008 Change -------------------------------------------------- ------ ------- ------- Sales EUR '000 48,858 49,390 - 1.1% Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) EUR '000 4,382 5,152 - 14.9% Earnings before income taxes EUR '000 3,954 4,889 - 19.1% Net profit EUR '000 2,657 3,355 - 20.8% Earnings per share EUR/share 0.92 1.21 - 24.0% Cash flow EUR '000 4,577 5,469 - 16.3% Capital expenditures EUR '000 1,681 3,743 - 55.1% Depreciation EUR '000 1,863 1,989 - 6.3% Number of employees (average) 819 684 19.7%</pre> The Annual General Meeting thanked all employees of A.S. Création for their commitment. The acts of the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board were approved unanimously. It was decided to distribute a dividend of EUR 1.40 per share from the profit of the year 2008. Gummersbach, May 5, 2009 A.S. Création Tapeten AG The Managing Board The full 3-month 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 05.05.2009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DGAP-News: A.S. Création reports 19% decline in earnings for Q1 2009.
| Source: EQS Group AG