COIL : 2017 FIRST-HALF REVENUES

2017 FIRST-HALF REVENUES: €14.4 MILLION

Brussels, July 20, 2017 (5:45 pm) - COIL, the world leader for aluminium anodising, is reporting its revenues for the first half of 2017.

Change in revenues for each quarter

Temporary slowdown in sales for the second quarter

Sales for the second quarter of 2017 are compared with a high reference basis, following 36.2% growth for the second quarter of 2016. In addition, various external factors temporarily affected business over the period.

Against a backdrop of volatile aluminium prices, sales of anodising services have been held back primarily by the wait-and-see approach adopted by distributors, which adjusted their stocks of metal during the period. This recurrent temporary phenomenon, compounded by an unfavourable base effect, masked the good level of sales achieved on new industrial markets, particularly for aluminium composite panels. As a result, anodising services (€6,361,000 for the second quarter of 2017) are down 15.2% year-on-year, but relatively stable compared with the first quarter of this year (-0.5%).

Sales of packaged offers (anodising with metal included) have consolidated their commercial development, particularly in Asia. Following the high levels of deliveries from the last few quarters, sales for the second quarter of 2017 came to 8% of quarterly revenues, compared with a particularly high quarterly reference in 2016. Over the full half-year period, they represented 11.2% of revenues, compared with 11.6% for the first six months of 2016.

Major investment cycle completed in Germany

From an industrial perspective, COIL has capitalised on this period to finalise the installation of its new continuous anodising line at its ultramodern Bernburg site in Germany.

Since July, initial production tests have been underway to validate the line's quality, productivity and reliability. They are already covering natural anodised materials and will be extended in September to include coloured anodised production. The aim is for this line to be operational five days a week, 24 hours a day from the fourth quarter of 2017.

When this new line moves into production, this will enable COIL to further strengthen its production capacity by up to 15,000 tonnes per year, in addition to the 50,000 tonnes of current capacity delivered by the five other existing lines in Belgium and Germany. Combining the best technological and environmental standards, this line will help satisfy the growing, sustainable demand for thick metal for architectural markets. More specifically, it will enable the continuous processing of aluminium coils up to 2 m wide and 3 mm thick with a vast range of finishings and colours.

Outlook

COIL is expected to deliver solid profitability for the first half of 2017, despite the contraction in sales over the period linked to the general economic environment.

For the second half of the year, COIL is forecasting a gradual improvement in its sales despite an unfavourable base effect, which will continue to have an adverse impact in the third quarter. Consolidated by the improvement in market conditions, this trend is supported by the sustainably positive outlook for subcontracting activities and reflected in a better level of orders since the end of June 2017.

Alongside this, COIL will be completing its major investment cycle, with not only its new continuous anodising line in Germany moving into production, but also a next-generation unit anodising line being set up in Belgium in the fourth quarter of 2017.

These major investments will help bring high levels of available production capacity on board, with flexible facilities at the forefront of innovation, to ensure sustainable support for COIL's growth and effectively capitalise on its markets' potential.

Next date: 2017 first-half earnings on October 3, 2017 (after close of trading)