Product category:
Printing Presses Ancillary Equipment
News Release from: Technotrans Graphics
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 March 2004
Technotrans Says Worst Over As Print
Bounces Back
Technotrans, the supplier of press ancillary equipment and micro technologies, has said it passed beyond the market nadir mid-way through 2003.
Technotrans, the supplier of press ancillary equipment and micro technologies, has said it passed beyond the market nadir mid-way through 2003 A renewed downturn in sales in the first half of the year was followed by two better quarters, the latter of which brought growth rates of more than 9%
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 13 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Earnings totalled 106.7 million Euros (previous year 117.0 million, - 8.8%).
Gross profit for 2003 of 35.9 million Euros was just 4.7% down on the previous year (37.7 million Euros), while the margin improved from 32.2% to 33.7%.
The operating profit improved from 5.9 million Euros to 7.5 million, representing a margin of 7%.
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Whereas the 2003 figures were diminished by a provision to cover a patent dispute, slightly more than 1.6 million Euros were spent on consultancy services in 2003 in connection with the planned acquisition.
Balance-sheet adjustments (valuation allowances for goodwill and the write-off of deferred taxes) were the main factors behind a net loss for the year of just under 11 million Euros in 2003.
A proposal to increase the dividend from 0.20 to 0.30 Euros will be made to the shareholders' meeting on May 28, 2004.
At December 31, 2003 there were 596 employees (621 in 2002), a decrease of 4%.
Capacity was increased again in the second half of the year.
The print activities of the business had higher second-half revenue.
The segment accounts for two-thirds of Technotrans' revenue.
Up until mid-2003, revenue had fallen in eight successive quarters but then made a marked recovery, climbing back up to 70.6 million Euros (previous year: 80.6 million Euros) by the end of 2003.
In the final quarter of 2003, revenue actually showed a year-on-year rise of 13.1% to 20.1 million Euros compared with the final quarter of 2002 (17.8 million Euros).
The result for the segment was satisfactory in 2003 at 1.8 million Euros (previous year: 0.6 million Euros).
A sum of slightly more than 1.6 million Euros in consultancy costs for the intended acquisition constituted a charge for which it was not possible to budget, and which was digested in full in 2003.
Without these costs, the rate of return for the segment would have been 4.9%, not 2.6%, and therefore on a par with the adjusted prior-year operating result in spite of the fall in revenue of 10 million Euros.
T he valuation adjustments applied at the end of the year will have a positive impact on the future result for the print segment, said the company.
However, since the fourth quarter it had become evident that the temporary need to provide more intensive support for new products appearing on the market, as is the case before the Drupa 2004 exhibition, is having an adverse effect on the result.
The balance sheet total at December 31, 2003 was 72.4 million Euros (previous year: 92.5 million Euros).
Valuation allowances for goodwill applied at the end of the year were the main reason for this fall.
These were reduced from 19.8 million Euros in the previous year to 4.5 million Euros (-77.5%).
In this connection, the level of deferred tax assets was likewise reduced from 4.4 million Euros at the end of 2002 to 1.1 million Euros at December 31, 2003.
These measures will reduce potential future balance-sheet risks.
Liquidity improved again.
Compared with 7.3 million Euros at the end of 2002, cash now totalled 8.8 million Euros (+ 20.1%).
Equity moved in line with the changes on the assets side.
This fell by 15.4 million Euros, from 51.7 million Euros to 36.3 million Euros, in particular as a result of the accumulated loss (11.0 million Euros).
Long-term borrowings were further reduced in 2003 (-3.3 million Euros, -21.5%).
The main balance sheet indicators remain virtually unaffected by these changes, or have improved significantly as a result (2002 figures in brackets): the equity ratio remains satisfactory at 50.1% (55.9%), the capital employed (as the sum of interest-bearing liabilities and equity) fell to 55.3 million Euros (74.4 million Euros), the return on capital employed (operating profit + currency result as a ratio of capital employed) rose to 13.3% (7.6%).
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