DGAP-News: CeWe Color Holding AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results CEWE COLOR raises turnover by 6.7 percent 15.05.2012 / 07:00 --------------------------------------------------------------------- CEWE COLOR raises turnover by 6.7 percent - Saxoprint GmbH acquisition drives online printing growth - CEWE PHOTO BOOK sales grow by 12 % - Non-recurring effects weaken EBIT by 1.6 million euros - Positive 12-month ROCE at 17.5% - Dividend to rise from 1.25 to 1.40 euros - Targets for 2012 business year all confirmed Oldenburg, 15 May 2012. In a traditionally weak first quarter, CEWE COLOR Holding AG (SDAX, ISIN: DE0005403901) raised its turnover over that of the first quarter of 2011 by 6.7 %, to 95.5 million euros. It was the Saxoprint acquisition - Saxoprint has been consolidated since 1 February - which most notably boosted turnover in the segment for online printing. The CEWE PHOTO BOOK contributed to growth again. Non-recurring effects, such as the insolvency of Schlecker and the acquisition and integration costs incurred with the Saxoprint acquisition, reduced EBIT by 1.6 million euros to a negative 6.8 million euros. On a 12-month basis, the return on capital employed, a benchmark for capital efficiency, was sound at 17.5%. 'We are thus right on track with our targets for 2012. With Saxoprint we have now commenced with increasing online printing to make it a business segment of the future which will promote our future growth,' says Dr. Rolf Hollander, Chairman of the Board of Management of CEWE COLOR Holding AG. As in the previous year, the fourth quarter will contribute by far the most to sales and earnings. Online printing and photofinishing drive growth Sales in the largest segment, photofinishing, increased by 2.3% to 65.5 million euros in the first quarter. This was due to the uninterrupted growth in the sale of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS and other digital added-value products. The volume of CEWE PHOTO BOOK sales rose by 11.6% to 1.027 million books in the first quarter. Digitisation continues to approach the 100% mark as a result of the success of the CEWE PHOTO BOOK and other added-value products: after 89% in the first quarter of 2011, as many as 93% of the total number of photos produced in the period under report were digital. EBIT contributes to non-recurring effect Due to the profile of the photofinishing season, which focuses on the third and fourth quarters, the first quarter of any year has always been characterised by negative earnings. 'In the first quarterly period, photofinishing is like selling ice cream in winter' - this is the rule for the sector. The insolvency of our customer Schlecker and other effects caused the photofinishing EBIT to decline from a negative 4.1 million euros in the previous year to a negative 5.1 million euros. Some camera manufacturers have had problems with delivering since the natural disasters in Japan in 2011 and these have caused sales in the retail segment to decline slightly to 23.1 million euros. The segment nevertheless stabilised its EBIT at a negative 0.5 million euros. Online printing contributed to Group-wide growth in the amount of 6.9 million euros as early as in the first quarter. Scheduled initial investments had a short-term negative effect on EBIT in online printing, which amounted to a negative 1.2 million euros. CEWE COLOR will also be able to reinforce the weaker quarterly periods for photofinishing by expanding its online printing operations. Capital ratio at 39.4 % in spite of acquisition - dividend rises In an annual comparison, the balance sheet expanded by 52.2 million euros to 294.8 million euros, mainly due to the Saxoprint acquisition. The capital ratio was nevertheless extremely sound at 39.4 %. In an annual comparison, it increased from 114.8 million euros to 116.2 million euros - despite a payout rate of 63 % and a share repurchase in the amount of 6.7 million euros in 2011. The share repurchase was more than offset by the increase in revenue reserves and net retained profits in the amount of 8.2 million euros. This figure mainly comprises 17.3 million euros in earnings after taxes, matching expenses and income with no effect on net income in the amount of a negative 0.8 million euros, and the dividend payout. At the Annual General Meeting on 6 June 2012, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose a rise in the dividend, from 1.25 euros per share in the previous year to 1.40 euros per share. 2012 target figures confirmed Based on the trend in the first quarter of 2012, the Board of Management is confirming all the annual targets set for the 2012 business year: the new segment for online printing is to considerably boost growth by around 40 million euros and raise Group turnover by around 7 % to 12 %, from 500 million to 525 million euros. After adjustment by the contribution to sales of the new online printing business segment, the management predicts a slight average increase in sales in the range of 460 million to 485 million euros (-1.9 % to +3.4 %), with the 'from mass to class' trend being the primary trigger of this increase. While the total number of photos is slightly declining in the photofinishing sector, probably by around 2.29 to 2.36 billion photos, the management is nevertheless expecting growth in the sale of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS to continue to rise, by around 11 to 15 %, to around 5.7 million to 5.9 million photos. Investments in 2012 are expected to remain in the range of 30 to 33 million euros (-1% to +9%) and EBIT is expected to amount to around 27 to 33 million euros (-10% bis +10%). The average of this range is thus the same as in the 2011 business year. Since the management does not expect online printing, at turnover of around 40 million euros in 2012, to contribute notably to earnings, an EBIT margin of 5.6 % to 7.2 % - an average of 6.4 % - results on the basis of photofinishing sales (2011: 6.4%). Earnings per share are likely to reach around 2.44 to 3.06 euros. Dr. Hollander: 'Considerable brand awareness of the CEWE PHOTO BOOK, in some cases in excess of 40 %, continues to drive the change in photofinishing. 2012 will be another very successful year for our CEWE PHOTO BOOK and our other digital added-value products and we will also be creating the basis for growth in the future with our new online printing business segment.' CEWE COLOR Group Unit Q1 Q1 Delta Delta 2011 2012 % Absolute Digital prints in million units 422.9 461.8 +9.2 +38.9 Prints from films in million units 51.1 34.4 -32.7 -16.7 Total prints in million units 474.0 496.2 +4.7 +22.2 CEWE PHOTO BOOKS in thousand books 919.8 1,026.6 +11.6 +106.8 Turnover in million euros 89.5 95.5 +6.7 +6.0 EBIT in million euros -5.2 -6.8 -29.8 -1.6 EBT in million euros -5.4 -7.3 -34.3 -1.9 Earnings after tax in million euros -5.7 -7.1 -23.4 -1.4 Percentage deviations have all been calculated at the exact values. Should you have any queries, please contact: CEWE COLOR Holding AG, Axel Weber (Investor Relations) Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 2288, Fax: 0441 / 404 - 421, e-mail: IR@cewecolor.de Internet: www.cewecolor.de , www.cewe.de , www.cewe-fotobuch.de www.viaprinto.de , www.saxoprint.de Financial schedule: 6 June 2012: Annual General Meeting, Park Hotel, Bremen 9 August 2012: Publication of the QI-Q2 interim report 8 November 2012: Publication of the QI-Q3 interim report 12 November 2012: German Equity Forum, Frankfurt CEWE COLOR: Europe's leading online printing and photo service CEWE COLOR, with 13 highly-technical production operations and a staff of around 3,100 employees in 24 European countries, is both market and technological leader. In 2011 CEWE COLOR delivered around 2.5 billion prints, more than 5.1 million CEWE PHOTO BOOKS and photo gift articles to more than 40,000 retail partners to generate consolidated turnover of 469 million euros. CEWE COLOR is a 'first mover' in the introduction of new digital technologies and products. CEWE COLOR is continuing to expand its online printing service with viaprinto.de and saxoprint.de as an additional business segment. CEWE COLOR celebrated its 50th company anniversary in 2011: In 1961 CEWE COLOR was founded by Senator h.c. Heinz Neumüller. The company went public under the leadership of Hubert Rothärmel in 1993. CEWE COLOR Holding AG is listed on the SDAX. End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.05.2012 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: CeWe Color Holding AG Meerweg 30-32 26133 Oldenburg Germany Phone: +49 (0)441 40 4-1 Fax: +49 (0)441 40 4-42 1 E-mail: IR@cewecolor.de Internet: www.cewecolor.de ISIN: DE0005403901 WKN: 540390 Indices: SDAX Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 169833 15.05.2012
DGAP-News: CEWE COLOR raises turnover by 6.7 percent
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