Please find attached a press release concerning the annual results 2012 of Bekaert.
Highlights:
Overcapacity in most markets and an overall slowdown in global demand led to fierce competition and persistent price and margin pressure in 2012. The sawing wire business collapsed even further in 2012 and the measures taken to rightsize the respective activities with the new business reality substantially affected Bekaert's financial performance for the year. The company incurred a total of € 202 million non-recurring costs, of which € 117 million related directly to the restructuring and impairments in the sawing wire activities, and € 85 million to other realignment measures.
Notwithstanding this difficult economic and business climate, Bekaert managed to achieve stable sales volumes and a solid cash flow from operating activities, and significantly reduced its net debt position.
- Consolidated sales of € 3.5 billion (+3.6%) and combined sales of € 4.4 billion
(-4.6%)
- Gross profit of € 479 million (13.8% margin) compared with € 651 million (19.5%)
- REBIT of € 118 million (3.4% margin) compared with € 281 million (8.4% margin)
- Non-recurring costs of € -202 million and non-recurring gains of € 35 million
- EBIT of € -49 million compared with € 289 million
- Cash flows from operating activities of € 439 million compared with € 106 million
- EBITDA of € 275 million (7.9%) compared with € 497 million (14.9%)
- EPS: € -3.30 compared with € 3.27
The company continued to invest in future growth while strongly reducing net debt:
- R&D expenses totaled € 69 million, representing 2% of sales
- Capital expenditures reached € 127 million
- Net debt decreased to € 700 million from € 856 million, resulting in a net debt on REBITDA of 2.1
The Board of Directors confirms its confidence in the strategy and future perspectives of the company and will propose to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders a gross dividend of € 0.85 per share.