Regulatory News :

Clasquin (Paris:ALCLA) :

Number of shipments* : 146,324 (+ 2.6% vs 2011)
Gross profit : 45.1 ?M (+ 0.0% vs 2011)
Current operating income : 4.3 ?M (- 26.6% vs 2011)
Net profit Group share : 2.1 ?M (- 31.3% vs 2011)

2012 Figures

CONSOLIDATED audited accounts   2012   % GP   2011   % GP   Change
Number of shipments*   146,324       142,570       +2.6%
Sales (in ?M) **   184.6       171.4       +7.7%
Gross profit (in ?M)   45.1   100.0 %   45.1   100.0%   +0.0%
Current operating income (in ?M)   4.3   9.4%   5.8   12.9%   -26.6%
Consolidated net profit (in ?M)   2.3   5.2%   3.3   7.2%   -28.1%
Net profit Group share (in ?M)   2.1   4.7%   3.1   6.8%   -31.3%

*Excluding Gueppe-Clasquin, a subsidiary (70% ownership) specialised in road haulage, freighting and logistics.
**Note: Sales is not a relevant indicator for assessing activity in our business, because it is greatly impacted by changing sea and air freight rates, fuel surcharges, exchange rates (especially versus the $), etc. Variations in the number of shipments, the volumes shipped and--in terms of the Group's finances--gross profit are relevant indicators.

Significant slowdown in world trade

With the European crisis, world trade continued to decline in 2012, finishing with annual growth of about 2.5%. The Europe-Asia route is clearly in recession.

Against this backdrop, world sea freight experienced growth of about 2% by number of TEU* (-6% on the Asia-Europe route), while air freight fell by about 2 to 3% (in tonnage).

Sea freight companies have implemented a very voluntary policy of increasing freight rates. On the ASIA/EUROPE route, rates have more than doubled between December 2011 and December 2012.

Air freight rates remained stable over the first nine months of the year, and grew strongly in Q4 (+25% vs Q3 2012).

Activity growing slightly

Sea freight activity experienced growth in the number of shipments (+5.7%) in 2012 due to the acquisition of several new customers, and the gross margin increased by 5.6% (the fall in the number of TEU is actually linked to the end of a very specific contract; growth of +3.2% without the end of this contract).

Air freight saw the number of shipments fall by 1.6% and the tonnage transported rise by 1.3%. Pressure on margins linked to the drop in the market and reduced capacities resulted in our gross margin falling 6.6%.

The LOG SYSTEM subsidiary, specialised in software publishing, experienced a year of consolidation in both the 'freight forwarding' division and the medical division. The gross margin remains stable.

Our subsidiary GUEPPE CLASQUIN, specialised in road haulage and logistics, succeeded in maintaining excellent profitability despite a difficult market and an 11.5% fall in sales.

    NUMBER OF SHIPMENTS   VOLUMES   GROSS PROFIT (in ?M)
At current exchange rate   2012   2011   Chg 2012/

2011

   2012   2011   Chg 2012/

2011

   2012   2011   Chg 2012/

2011

Sea freight   73,487   69,537   + 5.7%   84,895 TEU   90,198 TEU   -5.9%   18.5   17.5   + 5.6%
Air freight   59,896   60,899   - 1.6%   41,659 T   41,139 T   +1.3%   16.2   17.3   - 6.6%
Other   12,941   12,134   + 6.7%         2.9   2.3   + 25.0%
TOTAL OVERSEAS

ACTIVITY

146,324 142,570 + 2.6% 37.7 37.2 + 1.2%
Log System                           2.3   2.3   - 0.2%
Gueppe Clasquin                           6.4   6.9   - 6.4%
Consolidation entries                           -1.3   -1.3   NS
CONSOLIDATED TOTAL                           45.1   45.1   0.0%

*TEU = Twenty Equivalent Units

The quality of our fundamentals :

  • Unique competitive positioning/ only multinational mid-size company working in the overseas sector,
  • The expertise and commitment of our teams,
  • A powerfull information system,
  • A diversified portfolio of loyal customers,
  • A strong presence in Asia,

Has allowed us to continue to win new market share and attract new customers.

2012: Many talents join the Group, new management tools implemented

2011 had been an exceptional year with regard to growth investments:

  • Opening of Clasquin Germany,
  • Opening of Clasquin India,
  • Opening of Clasquin Georgia,
  • Total reshuffling of Clasquin Italia.

And 'structural' investments:

  • Creation of the Company Secretary position,
  • Strengthening of IT department,
  • Creation of the OTO (Operational Training and Organization) department, dedicated to operational excellence in the Group.

2012 was marked by recruiting many talented people who joined the Group:

  • Our Global Sales Vice-President, Jérôme Baudry
  • 11 Managers and Senior Salespeople

All these talents are the bearers of our future growth.

2012 was also marked by the implementation of new management tools

  • A new Group reporting structure that will enable us to benefit from more open and efficient management tools for budgeting, reporting and financial consolidation.
  • A new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool that will allow us to adopt a more professional commercial approach, by improving management of our sales activity and communication with our customers.
  • The deployment of various operational software packages, right across the Group will ultimately contribute to improving productivity.

2012 was marked by the acquisition of Intercargo, "freight forwarder" with head office in Barcelona (25 people); it also has a site in Valencia (3 people). Sales 2012: 12.3 ?M - GP: 2.3 ?M - EBIT 2012: 0.5 ?M.

Specialised in sea export to South America and the Middle East, Intercargo is growing continuously.

The following sums have been integrated into the Group's accounts with effect from 01/09/2012:

  • Number of shipments : 2,522
  • Gross profit : 0.88M?
  • Ebit : 0.29M?
  • Net results : 0.16M?

All these investments, added to those made in 2011, are now going to contribute to supporting growth and future performance.

Economic results falling but remaining satisfactory, given both the external and internal circumstances

All the investments and recruitments made in both 2011 and 2012 are naturally burdening our expenses and particularly the payroll, which rose by 7.2% (+?1.9 million) in 2012, but by only 2.8% for comparable scope and exchange rates.
The effect of this was to reduce our Current Operating Income by 26.6% to 4.3 million.
The net profit Group share was ?2.1 million.
Operational cash flow was ?4.4 million.

A financial position that remains healthy

    2012   2011   2010
Equity (in ?M)   22.3   22.3   21.9
Net debt (in ?M)   -0.2   -5.8   -5.4
Gearing   -0.80%   -26.1%   -24.60%
           
    2012   2011   2010
Net cash (in ?M)   3.9   8.3   8.7
Long and medium term debt (in ?M)   3.7   2.5   3.3
           
    2012   2011   2010
Working capital requirement (in ?M)   8.1   5.2   5.8
Number of invoicing days   6.7   4.6   5.6
           
    2012   2011   2010
Operational cash flow (in ?M)   4.4   5.7   4.9
Gross margin (%)   9.80%   12.70%   11.50%

Outlook for 2013

Market
World trade is expected to grow about 3% in 2013, with H1 probably still difficult and a recovery in H2.
Furthermore, the contraction in European imports coming from Asia should continue in H1. Other routes should be growing.

Clasquin
We should benefit from growth in our new subsidiaries and from developments linked to taking on new talents. In this context, we are forecasting significant business growth.

Dividend payment

The Board of Directors decided on 18 March 2013 to propose a ?0.75 dividend per share to the General Meeting of 6 June 2013, with this dividend to be released on 14 June 2013.

Key events in 2013 (publications issued after market closure)

  • Wednesday 15 May 2013 : Business report as of 31 March 2013
  • Thursday 6 June 2013 : Combined General Meeting
  • Thursday 29 August 2013 : Business report as of 30 June 2013
  • Thursday 19 September 2013 : 2013 half year results
  • Wednesday 6 November 2013 : Business report as of 30 September 2013

Contacts CLASQUIN
Yves Revol ? Chairman and CEO
Philippe Lons ? Deputy Managing Director and CFO
Stéphanie Chalandon ? Financial Reporting and Logistics Manager
Clasquin Group ? 235 cours Lafayette ? 69006 Lyon, France
Tel: +33 (0)4 72 83 17 00 ? Fax: +33 (0)4 72 83 17 33
finance@clasquin.com