Please find attached a press release concerning the annual results 2013 of Bekaert.
Highlights:
In the highly competitive environment of 2013, Bekaert maintained its leading market positions and returned to profitability. Despite subdued global demand, the company maintained stable volumes. Moreover, Bekaert substantially reduced its net debt by effective actions to reduce the working capital.
- Consolidated sales of € 3.2 billion (-7.9%) and combined sales of € 4.1 billion (-6.3%)
- Currency impact: € -192 million (-5.6%) on consolidated sales and € -320 million (-7.3%) on combined sales
- Gross profit of € 482 million (15.1% margin) compared with € 479 million (13.8%) in 2012
- REBIT of € 166 million (5.2% margin) compared with € 117 million (3.4%)
- Non-recurring items of € -29 million compared with € -167 million
- EBIT of € 137 million compared with € -50 million
- EBITDA of € 297 million (9.3%) compared with € 274 million (7.9%)
- EPS: € 0.42 compared with € -3.33
- Proposed gross dividend of € 0.85 per share, unchanged from previous year
Depressed markets, highly unfavorable currency movements, passed-on lower raw materials prices and competitive price pressure affected the Group's consolidated top line by 7.9% in 2013. The effects were offset at the profit level thanks to the restructuring measures of 2012 and the realized cost savings.
Bekaert continued to invest in future growth while strongly reducing net debt:
- R&D expenses totaled € 62 million, representing 2% of sales
- Capital expenditure reached € 97 million
- Net debt decreased to € 574 million from € 700 million, resulting in a net debt on EBITDA of 1.9
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.