Interim Report January – September 2009
STRABAG SE with double-digit Ebit growth after nine months 2009- Revenue in the first nine months of 2009 climbs by 9 % to € 9,091.50 million – output volume stable
- Significant increases in EBITDA (+13 %), EBIT (+18 %) and earnings after taxes (+8 %), but higher minority interest
- Order backlog at € 14.6 billion – higher compared to year end 2008 (+10 %) and versus 30 September 2008 (+5 %) – group-wide second-highest order backlog in Poland
- Outlook: slight decline of output volume for full year 2009; earnings expectation remains at previous year´s level
Vienna, 30 November 2009
Output volume and Revenue
The output volume of STRABAG SE stood at EUR 9,406.70 million in the first nine months of 2009, which represents stable development compared to the year before (previous year: EUR 9,381.77 million). On the one hand, significant growth could be observed especially in Germany due to the first-time consolidation of STRABAG Property & Facility Services (STRABAG PFS) – on the other hand, business activity was down in Austria, the Czech Republic and Russia. The consolidated group revenue for the first nine months of the 2009 financial year amounted to EUR 9,091.50 million, compared to EUR 8,314.54 million in the same period last year (+9 %). Group revenue in the third quarter 2009 of stood at EUR 3,744.18 million, up 6 % from the year before.
Order Backlog
The order backlog on 30 September 2009 stood at EUR 14,620.96 million, despite significant declines in Russia and Hungary. This corresponds not only to a plus compared to 30 June 2009 but also to an increase versus 30 September 2008 (+5 %) and versus the end of 2008 (+10 %).
Financial Performance
Personnel expenses and expenses for raw materials, consumables and other services could be lowered in the past nine months from 93 % to 90 % of the revenue, so that the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) gained 13 % to EUR 440.82 million. This contributed to the slight growth of the EBITDA margin from 4.7 % to 4.8 %. Amortisation and depreciation was up by 10 % due to the high level of capital expenditures made in the past financial year. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) nevertheless improved by 18 % to EUR 174.61 million.
At EUR -14.09 million, the financial result in the first nine months was more negative than in the same period last year. This is mainly due to the very low level of interest on credit in 2009 and the capital expenditures of the previous year.
Financial Position and Cash-flows
The balance sheet total remained relatively unchanged with EUR 9,737.04 million at 30 September 2009 versus EUR 9,765.21 million at 31 December 2008. The equity ratio grew only slightly to 31.2 % (31 December 2008: 30.5 %). The net cash position of EUR 109.66 million turned into a net financial liability of EUR 297.88 million as the cash and cash equivalents fell from EUR 1,491.37 million to EUR 983.70 million.
Outlook
Dr. Hans Peter Haselsteiner, CEO of STRABAG SE, expects stable business: "I therefore expect the 2010 financial year to remain relatively stable for STRABAG. From today´s perspective, I believe we will see the first deterioration of market conditions in the construction sector in 2011, followed by several difficult years starting in 2012."