BAUER AG - Total Group revenues up 3.9 percent to EUR 749.2 million
- EBIT increases from EUR 7.4 million to EUR 13.6 million
- After-tax loss of EUR 11.0 million down against previous year
- Forecast for after-tax profit slightly adjusted
Schrobenhausen - In the first six months of the current financial year BAUER Aktiengesellschaft increased its total Group revenues by 3.9 percent from EUR 721.3 million to EUR 749.2 million. The global construction and equipment manufacturing concern improved its EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) by EUR 6.2 million to EUR 13.6 million. Due to special factors, the net loss of EUR 11.0 million was down against the previous year's comparative figure of EUR -7.9 million. The special factors included problems on a dam project in the USA, which made a loss. This additionally resulted in significantly higher income tax expense year-on-year.
Chairman of the Management Board Professor Thomas Bauer comments: "Excluding the special factors, our after-tax result would have been around last year's level."
Orders in hand totalling EUR 773.7 million are within the range of expectations (previous year: EUR 868.6 million). Some medium and larger-scale projects will provide healthy levels of capacity utilization over the coming months to replace a number of major projects which have mostly been completed.
Business segments
With its three segments - Construction, Equipment and Resources - the Group operates a widely diversified yet well-balanced business model and an international network. In the first half of the year, the Construction and Equipment segments profited from the healthy state of their German home markets, among other positive factors.
Total Group revenues in the Construction segment increased by 1.5 percent to EUR 351.4 million. Segment EBIT increased from EUR 2.9 million to EUR 7.4 million. As a number of major projects have been completed, orders in hand decreased as expected to EUR 470.4 million (previous year: EUR 531.3 million).
In the Equipment segment, total Group revenues rose by 3.7 percent to EUR 321.3 million. Business in the first half of the year was marked by higher margins based on stronger sales of complex large machines. That had a positive effect on segment EBIT, which more than doubled relative to the previous year comparative period from EUR 5.8 million to EUR 13.2 million. Orders in hand of EUR 134.2 million (previous year: EUR 154.0 million) were down. Demand remains lively, though ordering and delivery lead times are still very short. Opportunities are arising from new products and markets, including through the development contract with Saxon Energy Services Inc. relating to a large-sized deep drilling rig.
The Resources segment improved its total Group revenues by 7.9 percent to EUR 101.0 million. The main drivers of growth were the Materials and Environment areas. Segment EBIT of EUR -3.3 million was somewhat lower than the previous year comparative (EUR -2.5 million). Orders in hand totalling EUR 169.1 million are at a healthy level. The segment - operating in the fields of water, energy, mineral resources and environmental technology - is still undergoing a restructuring phase.
Outlook
"Demand is very volatile because of the political and economic situation in a number of regions around the world, and that is hampering consistent business growth," comments Professor Bauer. "In Russia especially, where we have been operating for many years, the consequences of the political conflict are marked, and the further course of developments is impossible to predict."
As forecast in April 2014, BAUER AG expects to achieve total Group revenues of around EUR 1.55 billion and EBIT of around EUR 75 million in the current financial year. The company has adjusted its after-tax profit forecast slightly, based on the special factors and the current political uncertainty. It now expects to make around EUR 15 to 20 million instead of the previously predicted EUR 20 to 25 million.
About Bauer
Bauer is a provider of services, machinery and products for ground and groundwater. The Group markets its products and services all over the world. Its global spread allows it to remain largely unaffected by fluctuating business cycles.
The operations of the Group are divided into three segments: Construction, Equipment and Resources. The Construction segment carries out specialist foundation engineering work for complex excavation pits and foundations on major infrastructure and building projects all over the world, installing cut-off walls and carrying out ground improvement works as well as providing related project development services. Bauer's Equipment segment, a world market leader, offers a comprehensive range of construction machinery, equipment and tools for the specialist foundation engineering sector as well as for other underground drilling operations, such as for mines, water wells, geothermal energy sources, and oil and gas extraction. The Resources segment pools the Group's activities in the fields of water, energy, mineral resources and environmental technology.
Bauer profits greatly from the collaboration between its three separate segments, enabling the Group to position itself as an innovative, highly specialized provider of complete solutions and services for demanding projects on the specialist foundation engineering and related markets.
Founded in 1790, Bauer today generates around three quarters of its total revenues outside of Germany. Employing some 10,300 people, the Group's total revenues in 2013 were approximately EUR 1.5 billion (previous year: EUR 1.44 billion). BAUER Aktiengesellschaft has been listed on the official market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 4, 2006 (Prime Standard, ISIN DE0005168108.
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