Semi-annual statement 2011
STRABAG SE posts positive semi-annual earnings for the first time- Break-even point with EBIT already in first six months for the first time in company history: € 17 million
- Revenue and output volume with double-digit growth – growth in all segments; particularly significant in Germany, Poland and northern Europe
- EBITDA up 6 % to € 197 million – despite positively distorted comparison base the year before
- High minority interest leads to unchanged result per share of € -0.10
- Continued net cash position, high equity ratio of 31.1 %
Vienna, 31 August 2011
Today, Wednesday, STRABAG SE, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest construction company, announced its figures for the first six months 2011. Although the break-even point in the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) is reached normally not until the third quarter due to the high seasonality of the construction business, it has already shown a positive € 16.67 million in the first half of 2011.
Hans Peter Haselsteiner, CEO of STRABAG SE, comments on the figures: “The first months of the previous year were characterised by a very long winter. This year’s weather conditions allowed us to begin building significantly earlier, which is why we are pleased to report of double-digit growth of the output volume at the halfway point. We also have good news on the earnings side: last year’s earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were significantly positively distorted by a one-off effect in the balance sheet. This makes it that much more remarkable that, for the first time in company history, we have registered a positive EBIT already at the half-year mark. We already raised our forecast for the full year 2011 and beyond during the presentation of the interim report for January-March 2011. Today I would like to confirm this outlook. We expect an output volume of € 14.0 billion in 2011 and of € 14.3 billion in 2012. The EBIT should come to rest at least at € 320 million this year and at € 330 million next year.”
Output volume and revenue
STRABAG generated an output volume of € 6,136.33 million in the first half of 2011, which corresponds to an increase of 17 %. Owing to unfavourable weather conditions, a significant decline in the output volume had been registered in the previous year. Increases could be seen in all segments this year. Especially worth mentioning here is the growth in the home market of Germany, in Poland and in Scandinavia. The consolidated group revenue of the first six months of the 2011 financial year grew in line with the output volume, reaching € 5,917.32 million after € 5,034.97 million in the same period the year before (+18 %).
Order backlog
The order backlog reached a relatively high level in a multi-year comparison; at € 14,878.81 million, however, it was still 6 % lower than at the end of June of the previous year. This can be attributed for the most part to the cancellation of the projects in Libya due to the political unrest in that country. Poland is another factor of influence: the previous year’s high order backlog in that country, in the form of large infrastructure projects, is being continuously worked off and transformed into output. In Austria and Romania, by comparison, the order backlog is on the rise with projects including the Koralm Tunnel in Styria and several new road construction orders in Romania.
Financial performance
The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) for the first six months of the 2011 financial year rose by 6 % to € 197.18 million on good earnings contributions from Germany and Poland. This growth is that much more remarkable as an extraordinary revaluation through profit or loss for Czech railway construction company Viamont DSP in the amount of € 24.60 million, reported in the result from associates, led to a positive distortion of the EBITDA last year. This fact, however, limited the growth opportunities of the EBITDA and led to a reduced EBITDA margin from 3.7 % to 3.3 %.
The depreciation and amortisation fell by 8 % to € -180.52 million – in part related to a one-time amortisation of goodwill in the amount of € -14.00 million performed in the first quarter of the previous year related to the Viamont transaction. Below the line, this resulted in something exceptional: for the first time in company history, STRABAG reached the break-even point in the EBIT in the second quarter instead of the third quarter as usual. The EBIT thus moved from € -10.36 million in the same period the year before to € 16.67 million, while the margin rose to 0.3 % from -0.2 %.
At € -4.13 million, the interest income in the first six months was similar to last year’s level (€ -6.75 million). This results in a positive pre-tax result of € 12.54 million after the negative value of € -17.11 million that was reported for the same period in 2010. Accordingly, the income tax was in low single-digit territory, reducing the earnings after taxes to € 8.82 million. This figure had also still been negative in the year before. While third-party shareholders still helped bear a loss of € -1.33 million in the same period of the previous year, the earnings attributable to minority shareholders this year amounted to € +19.75 million. This results in nearly unchanged consolidated losses of € -10.94 million over the first half of 2010 (€ -11.47 million) and an unchanged result per share of € -0.10. Here, too, we should point out the positively distorted comparison value from the Viamont measurement.
Financial position and cash-flows
The balance sheet total reached € 10,518.66 million, nearly unchanged in comparison to the € 10,382.16 million from the end of 2010. Worth mentioning are the seasonally higher current trade receivables, with simultaneous reduction of cash and cash equivalents, as well as the growth of inventories in connection with project developments in Germany. On the liabilities side, we can see a significant increase of current liabilities, mostly due to the forthcoming repayment of and additions to liabilities attributable to the public-private-partnership portfolio.
The equity ratio showed little change, settling at 30.6 % after 31.1 % on 31 December 2010. The net cash position fell significantly from € 669.04 million to € 25.09 million in response to the build-up of the working capital. A net debt situation was registered on 30 June 2010.
The cash-flow from earnings stood at € 155.37 million, due in part to an improved net income 59 % above the comparison period of the year before. Because of the as-planned lower growth of the working capital, the cash-flow from operating activities came to rest much less deeply in negative territory at € -292.17 million (comparison: € -407.85 million). Enterprise acquisitions with a simultaneous lower reduction of the investments in property, plant and equipment and in intangible assets led to a cash-flow from investing activities of € -301.64 million. This figure grew by 25 % compared to the same period of the previous year. The cash-flow from financing activities moved from € -13.96 million to € 45.85 million, a development which can be explained by the bond issue in the second quarter. The volume of the issue was € 175 million, while only € 100 million had been issued in the previous year.
Employees
The number of employees grew by 6 % to 75,325. Nearly half of the more than 4,000 new employees were previously employed by Rimex, a German company acquired by STRABAG. The significant increase in Switzerland can be explained by the first-time inclusion of the employees of the two acquired companies Brunner Erben Holding AG and Astrada AG.