P R E S S R E L E A S E
FIRST HALF-YEAR RESULTS 2005/2006
Baarn, 1 November 2005, before start of trading
Main points from half-year figures for 2005/2006:
• Group turnover rose by 5% in the first half year of 2005/2006 compared with
the 1st half of 2004/2005, to € 172 million.
• Net profit € 1 million compared with a loss of € 39 million in the same period
in 2004/2005.
• Successful completion of the restructuring in France and Germany led to a
drop of € 15 million in operating costs and a one-time gain of € 7 million.
• The gross margin remains under pressure, due to rising raw-material prices
and continued strong competition in the European office furnishings market.
Hans van der Ven, President of the Samas Group, commented on these results as follows:
“I am very pleased to see that the results show concrete signs of Samas’s recovery. Under conditions marked by a stable but still meagre demand from the market and continuing pressure on prices, we have managed by our own efforts to achieve a marked improvement in operating profits and have turned the bottom line round from a big loss to a modest profit. This is thanks to a large number of measures that were often felt to be painful but all of which were necessary, a lot of mutual understanding and continued support from customers, employees and shareholders during the past two years. We are largely dependent on market recovery for further improvement of our performance. “
Main developments during first half year
The past half year has been in line with our previous predictions. The office furnishing markets on which Samas has been operating have on balance more or less stabilised.
Divergent developments were observed in the various countries, with the demand for our products picking up particularly strongly in the Netherlands. Many big new orders from service providers such as banks, industry and government formed the basis for this improvement.
The market in France, Switzerland and Germany continued to be characterised by further stagnation. On balance, Samas’s turnover increased by 5% compared with the first half year of 2004/2005, from € 164 million to € 172. The merging of the sales channels of Roneo and Sansen in France and the shift of furniture production from Freiburg, Germany, to other Samas establishments has, as expected, slowed down the growth in the turnover. This effect will continue in the second half year.
The gross margin dropped in the first half of the financial year, as expected. This was due in part to a rise in raw-material prices compared with the first half of the previous financial year and to the strong competition. An increased proportion of outsourced goods in the Netherlands leading to a change in the product mix, and a relatively low margin at Atal, also contributed to this trend.
The restructuring in France and Germany, which has been completed in the meantime, has led to a marked reduction in the operating costs by € 15 million compared with the same period of the previous financial year. The conclusion of the “redressement judiciaire” (“French chapter 11”) in France yielded a one-time gain of € 7 million, which was however reduced by non-recurrent logistic and financial consequences of the same period of “redressement judiciaire”.
The accounts for the first half of the current financial year were closed with a net profit of € 1 million compared with a net loss of € 39 million in the first half of
2004/2005 on the basis of the new IFRS rules. The net profit calculated on the basis of the old Dutch reporting standards amounts to € 2 million, compared with the loss of € 37 million published last year. The normalised operational result was minus € 3 million.
Samas sells German investment
Yesterday Samas-Groep NV sold its (non-core) investment (51%) in Viasit Bürositzmöbel GmbH in Neunkirchen, Germany, to the other shareholders of this company.
Future prospects
As indicated in June and August 2005, the years of continuous decline in the office furnishings market seem to be behind us.
The demand is picking up in the Netherlands, while in other countries – particularly France and Germany - there is still no sign of any recovery at all. It is expected that a management policy aimed more explicitly at improvement of the margin, combined with changes in the sales organisation, will serve to dampen the development of Samas’s turnover in the second half of the financial year. On the basis of the market picture sketched above, it is expected that in the second half of the financial year the measures already taken and the combined efforts of the Group’s employees will lead to an improvement in operational performance compared to the same period of last year. It is therefore assumed that the results for the financial year as a whole will be appreciably better than those for the previous financial year.
Specification of the results
Turnover and profits
The turnover to third parties rose by 5.1% in the first half year of 2005/2006 to € 172.3 million (2004/2005: € 163.9 million). A particularly strong increase in turnover was found in the Benelux countries and for Samas Office in Germany. France and the German furniture companies continued to feel the after-effects of the
reorganisations. The market for office chairs, in contrast to that for other office furniture, showed a slight drop in the recent period. The Swiss market still shows a picture of economic stagnation.
The ongoing price competition continues to put pressure on the gross margin, which fell to 53.3% (2004/2005: 55.3%). The results were however influenced by the fact that products still had to be outsourced for Atal’s customers in France in the first half of 2004/2005 and by the after-effects of the logistic problems and the “redressement judiciaire”. The conversion of goods bought in from Atal to Samas’s own products will be completed during the current financial year. The margin on Samas’s own products in France has recently returned to normal levels. A relatively high proportion of outsourced goods are sold in the Benelux countries compared with the Group’s own products. The combined effect of these trends in the Benelux countries and France amounted to 1.4%.
The operating profit before reorganisation costs and extraordinary expenses rose to € 3.9 million (as compared with minus € 19.0 million in the 1st half of 2004/2005).
Total operating expenses were reduced by € 21.6 million to € 88.0 million. This includes a one-time gain of € 7.0 million from the “redressement judiciaire”. This gain is reduced by the extra expenses due to the logistic and commercial consequences of the “redressement judiciaire”, which are however not quantifiable. If this revenue is excluded, the costs in the first half of the current financial year are reduced by € 14.6 million. No non-recurrent reorganisation was undertaken and no extraordinary
expenses were booked in this period.
The balance of the financial assets and liabilities for the first six months of the current financial year 2005/2006 amounted to € 4.0 million. This includes € 1.6 million for
preference dividend, which in conformity with the new IFRS reporting standards that came into effect on 1 April 2005 is booked as an interest charge.
On balance, the pre-tax profit from normal business operations came to minus € 0.1 million (2004/2005: minus € 46.1 million).
The tax pressure was positive, due to the write-back of € 0.9 of direct taxes. The net profit for the first half of 2005/2006 amounted to € 0.8 million (2004/2005: € 38.9 million net loss).
Cash flow, investments and financing
The cash flow after investment was minus € 10.0 million. The restructuring costs of € 4.5 million were booked under other movements. Investments in fixed assets amounted to € 6.8 million (2004/2005: € 6.8 million). These investments were mainly for product development and the implementation of software for the “Harmony” project.
The cash flow from financing activities (short-term loans and outstanding liquidity) was € 6.7 million.
Balance sheet ratios
Group equity rose slightly by € 0.6 million as a result of the net profit, to a value of € 78.3 million (31 March 2005: € 77.7 million).
The change in provisions from € 44.0 to € 33.0 million was mainly due to the reduction of € 10.6 million in the provisions for restructuring.
The balance of the interest-bearing loans including the deferred loan arising from the cumulative preference shares and the outstanding liquidity rose by € 14.6 million. Stocks fell by € 1.3 million while accounts receivable remained substantially
unchanged. Nearly all these changes can be explained by the further improvement in the stock turnover in Germany. Accounts payable fell by € 8.4 million, largely due to the “redressement judiciaire”.
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
The result of Samas-Groep NV for the first half year of 2005/2006 and the
corresponding figures for 2004/2005 are reported in conformity with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) approved by the European Commission.
The main topics relevant to the Samas Group that are affected by the IFRS are: • The treatment of pension obligations on the balance sheet
• The classification of cumulative preference shares as borrowed capital
• The separate reporting of active and passive tax latencies in the balance sheet Pension obligations
The presentation in the balance sheet of pension obligations arising from defined pension obligations (in particular in the Netherlands) and the associated diferred tax latency. At the start of 2004/2005, the Samas Group in the Netherlands had a defined benefit plan. With effect from 1 January 2005, this was converted into a defined contribution plan. From that date, the pension obligations of the Samas Group amount to 22.5% of the gross salaries for employees. In addition, the Samas Group has undertaken to pay an extra € 1.0 million annually for 6 years, starting on 1 January 2005. This obligation of Samas-Groep N.V. as of 30 September 2005 amounted to € 5.5 million. The effect on profits calculated in conformity with IFRS amounted to € 0.1 million positive for the first half of 2005/2006 (first half of 2004/2005: € 0.0 million).
Cumulative preference shares
Cumulative preference shares are no longer classified under Group equity but as long-term interest leasing loans. This has no effect on the base capital (group equity plus subordinated loans plus cumulative preference shares). The dividend paid out on these shares is booked as a financing expense.
The effect on profits calculated in conformity with IFRS amounted to € 1.6 million for the first half of 2005/2006 (first half of 2004/2005: € 1.6 million).
Deferred tax
Active deferred taxes are now reported separately on the balance sheet. On 31 March 2005, the active deferred tax was € 13.2 million and the passive deferred tax € 13.7 million, while the corresponding figures for 30 September 2005 were € 13.3 million and € 13.9 million respectively.
Summing up, it may be stated that on the basis of current insights, application of the IFRS leads to the following changes for the first half of the financial year 2005/2006: • the total equity has increased by € 4.8 to € 268.5 million
• the base capital has increased by € 2.2 million
• the pension expenses in the profit and loss account have increased by € 0.1 million
For further information, please contact: Samas-Groep NV
Management Team
Press officer: Investor Relations:
Hans van der Ven Guido Schlösser
Tel. +31 35 – 548 76 02 Tel. +31 35 – 548 76 24
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
