Dürr with dynamic growth in the first half

08/04/2011

• At € 1.2 billion, incoming orders clearly top pre-crisis level
• Strong growth in sales revenues and earnings
• Guidance for the full year raised

Bietigheim-Bissingen, August 4, 2011 – Dürr has increased its order intake, sales revenues and earnings strongly in the first six months of 2011 and thus laid the foundation for a successful year. At € 1.2 billion, new orders were up 63% on the first half of 2010. In the second quarter they reached € 643 million, thus sustaining the positive trend of the first three months (€ 557 million). With sales revenues up 51% to € 784 million, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to € 32.6 million in the first six months (H1 2010: € 1.1 million). Owing to the good first half and the continued strong demand, the guidance for 2011 has been raised. Sales revenues are expected to be up about 40% and incoming orders up 20% versus 2010. Previously, Dürr had forecast increases of 30% and 5%. Dürr now targets an EBIT margin of between 4.0% and 4.5% (previously 3.5% to 4.0%).

Ralf Dieter, Dürr AG’s CEO, commented: “Our business is developing very dynamically. The strong earnings improvement on the back of high capacity utilization and resulting scale effects is particularly gratifying. In the second half of the year we will be introducing special shifts, overtime, and in some cases Saturday working to increase our capacities.”

Incoming orders were up by about 60% versus the first half of 2010 both in the plant engineering business and in the machinery business. Dürr’s Application Technology business unit booked orders for more than 800 painting and sealing robots in the first six months; that is more than twice as much as in the same period last year. The automobile industry is investing on a broader geographical scale again. On the paint systems side, Dürr received large orders from India, Morocco, Brazil, Hungary, and China. The emerging markets accounted for 56% of total incoming orders. Demand for production equipment has also picked up in North America, where Dürr’s Ecoclean subsidiary booked a number of orders for engine plants. All in all, orders on hand rose to € 1,747 million at the end of the first half of 2011; that is equivalent to a reach of orders of 12 months.

Bottom-line, Dürr achieved earnings after tax of € 16.0 million in the first six months; € 14.2 million of that was generated in the second quarter when sales revenues were stronger. At 8.5%, sales and general administrative expenses rose below proportionally compared to the growth in sales revenues. The financial result improved by € 1.5 million to € -8.8 million. CFO Ralph Heuwing commented: “The better terms of our new financing structure are having an increasingly positive impact on the financial result. For the full year we expect savings of € 4 to 5 million.”

The strongly rising volume of business increased net working capital and caused the balance sheet to expand by 9% compared to the end of 2010. As a result, the equity ratio came to 24.3% (December 31, 2010: 26.3%) despite the growth in equity and operating cash flow was € -25.1 million. Dürr had moderate net financial debt of € 34.9 million at the end of the first half of 2011.

The Group’s headcount has increased by 8.8%, or 518 employees, since the end of 2010 to 6,433. This includes 109 employees of the Danish filling equipment specialist Agramkow in which Dürr has a 55% interest since May. The growth in headcount predominantly occured in the emerging markets. In Germany, the number of employees increased by 107 to 3,038 during the first half of 2011.

Outlook

For the full-year 2011 Dürr forecasts sales revenues in the region of € 1.75 billion and incoming orders of nearly € 2 billion. The EBIT margin will probably be between 4.0% and 4.5%. Earnings after tax should improve strongly as well, especially as Dürr expects a lower effective tax rate. Operating cash flow for the full year 2011 should be positive.

Dürr is a mechanical and plant engineering group that holds leading positions in the world market in its areas of operation. It generates a good 80% of its sales in business with the automotive industry. It furthermore supplies the aircraft, machinery, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries with innovative production and environmental technology. The Dürr Group operates in the market with three divisions. The Paint and Assembly Systems division supplies production and painting technology, especially for car bodies. Machinery and systems from the Measuring and Process Systems division are used in engine and transmission manufacturing and in final vehicle assembly, among other areas. The third division, Clean Technology Systems, is focused on processes to improve energy efficiency and on exhaust air purification. Dürr has 48 business locations in 21 countries worldwide. The Group achieved sales of € 1.26 billion with approximately 5,900 employees in 2010.

 

in € m	H1 2011	H1 2010	Q2 2011	Q2 2010
Dürr Group (IFRS)
Incoming orders	1,200.4	737.1	643.4	374.9
Orders on hand (June 30)	1,746.9	1,261.4	1,746.9	1,261.4
Sales revenues	783.5	517.9	424.9	287.6
EBITDA (earnings before financial result, taxes, depreciation and amortization)	42.1	10.4	28.3	11.9
EBIT (earnings before financial result and taxes)	32.6	1.1	23.5	7.1
Earnings after tax	16.0	-13.4	14.2	-2.9
Earnings per share (in €)	0.88	-0.78	0.78	-0.18
Cash flow from operating activities	-25.1	-2.2	-9.1	-18.6
Free Cashflow	-33.3	-14.6	-12.1	-22.9
Capital expenditure	12.1	5.4	7.1	3.0
Total assets (June 30)	1,327.4	999.0	1,327.4	999.0
Equity (with non-controlling interests) (June 30)	323.2	304.2	323.3	304.2
Equity ratio (June 30) (in %)	24.3	30.4	24.3	30.4
Net working capital (June 30)	63.0	51.2	63.0	51.2
Net financial position (June 30)	-34.9	-6.1	-34.9	-6.1
Employees (June 30)1)	6,433	5,733	6,433	5,733
Division Paint and Assembly Systems
Incoming orders	821.0	500.8	449.8	252.4
Sales revenues	514.4	345.2	277.3	190.8
EBIT	20.8	3.4	13.9	5.5
Employees (June 30)	3,463	3,128	3,463	3,128
Division Measuring and Process Systems
Incoming orders	324.1	201.1	159.0	100.5
Sales revenues	236.6	142.5	130.9	79.3
EBIT	11.8	-3.2	9.9	0.9
Employees (June 30)1)	2,683	2,391	2,683	2,391
Division Clean Technology Systems2)
Incoming orders	55.4	35.1	34.7	22.0
Sales revenues	32.6	30.2	16.8	17.5
EBIT	1.5	0.6	0.9	0.5
Employees (June 30)	191	169	191	169

¹ Includes for the first time 109 employees of the filling equipment specialist Agramkow S/A in which a 55% interest was acquired in May 2011.

² The new Clean Technology Systems division was set up on January 1, 2011. The Environmental and Energy Systems business unit was thereby transferred to this division from the Paint and Assembly Systems division. The Paint and Assembly Systems division’s figures for the first half and the second quarter of 2010 have been restated for comparability.

Immaterial variances may occur in the computation of sums and percentages due to rounding.