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Dürr lowers earnings forecast for 2004

11/04/2004

• Unforeseen expenses totaling 12 - 14 million euros at Final Assembly Systems and Ecoclean
• Earnings before taxes expected to be between 8 and 12 million euros in 2004
• Other business units on track
• SPRINT SQUARED moving ahead on schedule

Dürr has revised its earnings forecast for 2004 downward owing to unforeseen expenses totaling 12 to 14 million euros. Having previously projected earnings before taxes (EBT) of more than 18.7 million euros, the company has now set its target range at 8 to 12 million euros.

Additional expenses of 7 to 8 million euros have occurred at the US-based Dürr Production Systems, a company that is part of the Final Assembly Systems business unit. At this company implementation problems arose unexpectedly during the launch of complex final assembly products on the North American market. At the Ecoclean business unit additional costs in the amount of 5 to 6 million euros were incurred mainly while putting new production technology into operation in the Coolant Filtration product line.

"This setback is annoying, to put it mildly, since our SPRINT SQUARED earnings enhancement program is moving along and yielding positive earnings effects," emphasized Dürr AG CEO Stephan Rojahn. "We have taken the right tack, however, by making changes in the areas of project management and personnel qualification aimed at reducing future risks associated with order processing," he added.

Other business units on track

The Paint Systems, Services, and Measuring Systems business units continue to be well on track. After successful restructuring, the Measuring Systems business unit will reach the break-even point this year. Dürr will report details of its business development on November 12, when it presents the figures for the first nine months of 2004.

The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of production systems and manufacturing support services for the automotive industry. In 2003 Dürr achieved sales of almost 2.3 billion euros with about 12,750 employees.