- Key figures for 2008 compared with 2007:
- Operating cash flow (EBITDA) : EUR 31.8 million (+ 40%)
- Recurrent Operating cash flow (REBITDA) : EUR 26.4 million (+ 16%)
- Net Financial Debt : EUR 34.3 million (minus EUR 16.3 million)
- Ratio Net Financial Debt / REBITDA as per 31.12.08 : 1.3
- Ratio Equity / Total balance sheet as per 31.12.08 : 32%
- Profit before tax : EUR 7.2 million (+ 96%)
- Recurrent profit before tax: EUR 6.3 million (+72%)
- Profit after taxes: EUR 4.5 million (+50%)
- Recurrent profit after taxes : EUR 4.1 million (+36%)
- Further positive evolution of the net financial debt, further decrease with more than EUR 16 million over the past twelve months.
- Well positioned for opportunities in current market
Overview of results for the year of 2008
The PET packaging market continues to grow. Also from an ecological point of view, Pet packaging becomes more and more important because of the possibility of producing lighter weight of packaging. This results in a decrease of energy and raw material consumption. The increased energy prices give PET more and more a competitive advantage compared to glass and other packaging materials. The production of PET packaging consumes less energy than the production of glass and the more expensive transportation costs result more and more in a switch towards PET packaging.
The sold volumes of both preforms and bottles have increased by more than 8% compared to the year 2007.
Especially the sale of preforms showed a strong growth. The strongest volume growth can be attributed to the USA,Russia, Central Europe and Spain.
The total sales volume increase was realized despite the poor weather conditions in North-Western Europe, abnormal poor weather conditions in Russia and despite the different strikes in the ports and the transportation sector, mainly in South Europe and despite an earthquake in June 2008 in the immediate neighbourhood of our Greek production unit.
This earthquake has caused a temporary interruption of the production but Resilux has managed to quickly restore the production capacity, however with some limitations. In the mean time, the damage file at the insurance company has been settled entirely. All costs and compensation regarding the earthquake are considered as non-recurrent.
The consolidated figures include the following non-recurrent elements : operational cashflow EUR 5.6 million,
operating result EUR 0.9 million and a result after taxes of EUR 0.4 million.
The term recurrent in this press release refers to the activities excluding the effect of the earthquake.
The turnover has grown during 2008 with 4.7% up to EUR 210.2 million.
Compared to 2007, the recurrent added value increased by 12% to EUR 47.6 million. This increase is mainly due to increased volumes, improved margins and the economies of scale by optimal utilization of the existing infrastructure.
Furthermore, there has been a good cost control. The increase of the recurrent operational cash costs mainly relates to the increase of the variable costs like transport and energy. Total remunerations costs have increased due to indexation of salaries and wages and due to additional hiring in order to strengthen the organization to be able to face the needs of the market, to fill in future growth and to increase the technology component of the group.
The consolidated recurrent operational cash flow increased by 16% and amounts to EUR 26.4 million.
The operational non cash costs increased by EUR 4.5 million. The major part of this amount is a decrease in value of assets as a result of the earthquake in Greece. The recurrent operational non cash costs amounted to EUR 13.5 million in 2008.
The recurrent operating result for 2008 amounts to EUR 13.0 million compared to EUR 9.3 million for 2007, which
means an increase of EUR 3.7 million or 39%.
Although interest costs decreased, the total net financial items increased by 18% compared to the same period of last year. This can be explained by the fact that the financial items include costs regarding the exit of the Belgische Maatschappij voor Internationale Investering (BMI) in 2009. In addition, the foreign exchange results were negative for EUR 1.6 million. During last year, these were close to zero. The total net financial cost amounts to EUR 6.7 million.
A recurrent pre-tax profit was realized of EUR 6.3 million compared with EUR 3.7 in 2007. The total recurrent taxes
amount to EUR 2.2 million. This amount includes taxes payable for EUR 1.2 million and deferred taxes for 1.0 million. After taxes, the group has realized a recurrent net profit of EUR 4.1 million.
The net investments for fixed assets in 2008 amount to EUR 6.4 million compared to EUR 4.6 million in 2007. Major investments were an extra production line in Spain, a building extension in Hungary and a number of moulds.
The net financial debt has been further reduced by EUR 16.3 million compared to December 31, 2007 and amounts to EUR 34.3 million per December 31, 2008.
Tax dispute in Russia
After the rejection on September 22, 2008 of the claim from the Russian tax authorities by the Russian cassation court, the Russian tax authorities submitted on February 13, 2009 their claim, as a final remedy at law, at the Russian supreme court, that admitted the claim, however ruled a final sentence on March 11, 2009 by rejecting it for being unfounded. Resilux can now fully focus on the further development of its activities in the Russian Federation.
Dividend
The Board of Directors proposes to the General Meeting of Shareholders that no dividend is paid.
Outlook
Resilux expects positive results for 2009. Despites the current problem on the financial markets and the weakening of the economy, Resilux is well positioned : Resilux has not only modern production facilities, where growth can be realised with limited capital expenditures but also a solid financial structure. The current cash flows allow Resilux to invest in additional capacity and new products and to increase the efforts on the level of R & D and innovation. No additional external financing is required for this. A first package of capital expenditures for EUR 8.0 million is being implemented. This includes extension of capacity in Russia, Hungary and the United States of America.
In the current market, special attention is paid to the follow up of customer receivables and to a selective investment policy.
