STRABAG SE Annual Report 2011
STRABAG SE BEATS OWN FORECAST WITH STRONG EARNINGS IN THE FY 2011- Double-digit increases in revenue and earnings
- EBIT at € 334.8 million, earnings per share show plus of 14 % to € 1.75
- Management board to propose a higher dividend of € 0.60 per share
- Outlook: Output volume at € 14.3 billion expected, EBIT guidance very ambitious
Vienna, 27 April 2012 The publicly listed construction company STRABAG SE generated strong earnings in the financial year 2011, beating its own forecast.
“Our current market environment is characterised by the debt crisis in Europe, the volatile financial markets, the declining public-sector investments with simultaneously still higher demand for building construction from private and commercial clients. Thankfully, our strategy also meets the necessities of such conditions: Our group is diversified in terms of regions and segments and possesses a solid financial structure. Our flexible structure allows us to adapt our capacities quickly. Therewith, in the light of this environment, we managed to generate extraordinarily good results in the financial year 2011”, comments Hans Peter Haselsteiner, CEO of STRABAG SE.
The output volume rose by 12 % to € 14,325.85 million. The group revenue stood at € 13,713.80 million, which corresponds to an increase of 11 %. The growth is due to the strong demand in the German building construction and civil engineering segment, the booming Polish construction sector above all in the field of transportation infrastructures and the expansion in northern Europe. Additionally, STRABAG acquired two construction SMEs in Switzerland in the first quarter of 2011, which had a positive effect on the development of the revenue and the output volume.
The earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 2 % to € 746.33 million. Although an acquisition had a positive one-off effect of € 10.60 million in the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in 2010, this figure registered a plus of 12 % to € 334.78 million in the 2011 financial year. This resulted in an unchanged EBIT margin of 2.4 %. The earnings before taxes registered an above-average plus of 23 %, the net income one of 27 %. Despite the significantly higher minority interest, STRABAG SE closed the 2011 financial year with growth of the net income after minorities of 12 % to € 194.99 million. The company forecasted an increase to € 185 million, therewith beating its own forecast. Due to the lower number of weighted outstanding shares resulting from the buyback of own shares, the earnings per share grew by 14 % to € 1.75.
The management board is going to propose a dividend per share of € 0.60 to the AGM on 15 June 2012 – a rise of 9 % compared to the previous year.
STRABAG SE’s balance sheet total remained more or less unchanged at € 10.4 billion. The equity ratio stayed at a very high level and was just slightly reduced from 31.1 % to 30.3 % as a result of the share buyback programme. STRABAG SE paid € 185 million for own shares in the financial year 2011 and held 7.7 % of the shares at year-end. As in the years before, STRABAG ended the year with a net cash position. It was € 267.81 million.
The cash-flow from operating activities fell by 27 % to € 501.15 million despite a simultaneous 35 % increase of the cash-flow from profits. In addition to the reduction of prepayments in Poland, this is due to the expansion of the business – as evidenced by the higher revenue – which, as expected, was manifested in a build-up of working capital. The cash-flow from investing activities increased by 18 % to € -616.07 million. The company spent around 14 % less on the purchase of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets than the year before. However, this item includes several acquisitions of construction and raw material SMEs in Switzerland and Germany recorded under “changes in consolidation”. The cash-flow from financing activities stood at € -81.71 million after € -20.00 million the year before.
OUTLOOK
Based on the balanced business in terms of regions and segments, STRABAG expects the output for the 2012 financial year to remain unchanged at € 14.3 billion.
Due to the ongoing process of working off earlier orders, the lack of public-sector infrastructure investments in Europe did not yet affect output in the 2011 financial year, although a negative effect on returns could be seen above all in the Transportation Infrastructures segment. STRABAG expects a continued unfavourable environment for transportation infrastructures in 2012. An additional burden will be the weakened demand for construction in Poland after the European Football Championship. On the other hand, STRABAG expects to see continued solid business in the German building construction and civil engineering segment, as well as improved results in niche markets such as railway construction or environmental technology.
In the face of the economic environment – economic growth in the individual markets, the amount of public spending, and the financing environment for the clients – STRABAG describes its EBIT guidance for the 2012 financial year of more than € 300 million as “more than ambitious”.