Rosenbauer: Results first quarter 2009

The course taken by the world economy in the first quarter of 2009 was still very much marked by the global financial and economic crisis. Nevertheless, with worldwide demand for fire safety equipment continuing at the same high level as in the first quarter of last year, the crisis has only made itself felt in isolated instances. There was also no slow-down in project activity in the first quarter of 2009. In the Arab world and Asia in particular, there continues to be great demand for the modernization and upgrading of fire protection equipment. A number of projects, for both municipalities and airports, are either in course of preparation or awaiting contract award.

In the USA – the world’s biggest single market – new emissions regulations for vehicles due to come into force at the end of 2008 led to pre-emptive purchases in the run-up to the yearend. The corollary of these pre-emptive purchases was a downturn in the market in the first quarter of 2009. In general, however, the pace of incoming orders in the coming months is not expected to slow markedly in the USA either.

REVENUES AND RESULTS TRENDS The Rosenbauer Group boosted its shipment volumes again in the first quarter of 2009, lifting its revenues by 6% to 99.7 m€ (1-3/2008: 94.0 m€). The biggest contribution to revenue growth came from the US companies, whose full order books gave them exceptionally high capacity utilization in the first quarter. The large volume of orders to be fulfilled in 2009 also led to increased output, which was reflected in a higher figure of 14.6 m€ for inventory changes (1-3/2008: 8.2 m€).

At 3.0 m€, 1st quarter 2009 EBIT was down on the same period of last year (1-3/2008: 5.4 m€). However, this decrease is due to the exceptionally high gross margins earned on certain contracts in the first three months of last year, which had led to an unusually high EBIT margin of 5.7% for the first quarter. Seen in the context of the past five years, the EBIT margin of 3.0% achieved in the first quarter of 2009 is still above average, and thus at a satisfactory level.

As may be seen from year-on-year quarterly comparison, revenues and margins in the fireequipment sector are generally lower in the first quarter. The majority of shipments usually takes place in the second half of the year, with the result that the lion’s share of revenues and of the result is earned in the last few months of the financial year.

Financial expenditure rose by around 1.1 m€ compared to the same period of last year, largely due to changes in the valuation of foreign-exchange hedges for future contracts. However, the higher financing required for fulfilling the large production volumes was offset by the steep falls in US dollar and euro interest rates. Due to valuation changes, the finance cost deteriorated from -1.3 m€ (1-3/2008) to -2.2 m€ (1-3/2009), leading to 1st quarter 2009 EBT of 0.8 m€ (1-3/2008: 3.9 m€).

ORDERS At 103.2 m€ (1-3/2008: 104.7 m€), the Group’s order intake in the first quarter of 2009 was at the same high level as the year before. Of this figure for 1st quarter order intake, only 6.3 m€ is attributable to the major order from Saudi Arabia. The remainder will show up in the order intake figure for the second quarter. Thanks to the very substantial volume of new orders taken during the last quarter of 2008, the reserve of order backlog as at March 31, 2009 is at a record level, namely 493.3 m€ (March 31, 2008: 383.0 m€). This means that the Rosenbauer Group can be sure of good capacity utilization at its manufacturing facilities, and also gives it a fairly clear view of the likely course of revenues for the rest of this year.

INVESTMENTS Capital investment outlays in the first quarter came to 2.5 m€ (1-3/2008: 2.4 m€). As a result of the capacity enlargement projects at the Austrian facilities, year-2009 investments will once again total around 12.0 m€ (1-12/2008: 12.2 m€).

OUTLOOK Overall, the situation on the world fire-equipment market is expected to remain stable through 2009, although certain regions will be prone to greater fluctuations. For 2009, Rosenbauer Group Management expects that market volume will remain at a high level. In view of the record volume of order backlog, and the resulting high degree of capacity utilization at the production companies, it is reasonable to suppose that the current year will bring a continuation of both top and bottom-line growth.

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