INTERSEROH AG: turnover and showing slightly under the previous year's level

Transcription

1 INTERSEROH AG Intermediate report January 1, 2005, to June 30, 2005 INTERSEROH AG: turnover and showing slightly under the previous year's level Cologne, August 2005 Material Trade Services Despite a stagnating economy and a drop in the steel scrap prices in the first half of 2005, the business of the INTERSEROH service and raw materials group developed satisfactorily. In the first six months, the consolidated group turnover amounted to mill. Euro (previous year: mill. Euro). The EBT according to IFRS amounted to 12.4 mill. Euro (previous year: 12.8 mill. Euro), the EBIT to 13.9 mill. Euro (previous year: 14.0 mill. Euro). In the Material Trade segment, the consolidated turnover rose from mill. Euro to mill. Euro; the Steel and Metal Recycling area generated a turnover of mill. Euro (previous year: mill. Euro). Between the segments, an amount of 1.7 mill. Euro was to be consolidated (previous year: 0.5 mill. Euro). The situation in the individual group areas was as follows for the months of January to June 2005: The increased sales activities in the service business led to a development in this area which was positive overall. The quantities in transport packaging recycling were slightly increased in the classical branches compared with the same period in the previous year, additional quantities and turnovers also being generated in new branches. The INTERSEROH self-disposal system for collection and recycling of sales packages in the commercial area obtained further members in the first half of The reason for this is to be seen in new customers in the self-disposal solutions already in existence and the development and placement of tailor-made solutions for new clientele. The work on the nationwide set-up of a joint-use dual system for the collection of sales packaging arising at private households developed satisfactorily in the period of the report. Following Hamburg and Bavaria, the Saarland and Berlin gave INTERSEROH the necessary approval in the first half of Further approvals are expected in the near future. INTERSEROH is confident of being able to reach 50 per cent of the German population with this service by the end of the current fiscal year. Operative business has already started, first contracts have been concluded. In the area of Recycling Management, a stable development with moderate growth has been seen. In this area, full-service contracts for nationwide or supra-regional services are being concluded with trade and gastronomy companies, mineral oil companies, leisure-time parks, hospitals and railway stations. INTER- SEROH organises the recycling of all the waste occurring and processes the data on quantities and costs relative to the location. In the course of this service, INTERSEROH has taken on the logistics and recycling for the insular solution in the trade since the introduction of mandatory deposits, for example the collection of PET disposal packages and the proofs connected with this.

2 Due to the increasing pressure in the service business, the margins were under pressure in the first half of The INTERSEROH activities in the Eastern European member states were further intensified in the period of the report. Raw material trade The repeated increase in prices for used paper from February to May 2005, but also in particular the high prices for plastic, had a positive effect on the turnover and showing in the area of Raw Material Trade. The restructuring measures with the CDI Group in France in 2004 are bearing first fruits and have led to an improvement of the showing. The marketing performance in the paper area was increased, adjusted by the quantities of the CDI location at Pierrefitte, sold as per July 1, The amount of plastic marketed was also slightly increased. In the area of used timber, the margins are under pressure. The market has anticipated the forecast requirement of timber by the planned biomass thermal power stations. This has led to a drop in the purchase prices in procurement. As the active biomass thermal power stations still have numerous operational problems and a major quantity are still under construction, the marketing prices are not rising accordingly. With the relinquishment of the waste timber activities of the former "Elberg Holzhandel & Logistik" in 2004, the showing of the timber area improved accordingly. Adjusted by these amounts, INTERSEROH succeeded in extending the marketed quantity once more compared with the previous year's period. Steel and metal recycling The turnover in the steel and metal recycling business area is slightly below the previous year's level. The reason for this was continuous price drops from November 2004 to June For some kinds of steel scrap, the price drops were 50 per cent compared with the end of Many European steel works reduced production in order to support the steel prices, as the demand for steel was weak and the warehouses were still well stocked. The offer of steel scrap, in particular from Russia and the Ukraine, was still quite high, combined with the reduction in demand. The prices for the metals traded by INTERSEROH dropped slightly. Due to the drop in demand, the quantities in the steel area also dropped. The quantities of metal were increased, on the other hand. 2

3 Group turnover 1 st ½ of st ½ of 2004 Metal Trade mill mill. Steel and metal recycling mill mill. Group turnover without cross-segment consolidation mill mill. Group turnover, crosssegment, consolidated mill mill. Employees As per June 30, 2005, 1,378 (previous year: 1,328) people were employed in the INTERSEROH Group. Share / Dividend The INTERSEROH AG share was again in the focus of the financial community as an attractive secondline stock in the first half of Conference calls, investors' conferences and a road-show with the Board found great interest. Therefore, further road-shows are planned for the second half of With effect of May 1, 2005, INTERSEROH has also commissioned a new designated sponsor. The opening price in XETRA trading was Euro on January 2, 2005, rising in the period of the report to Euro and closing on June 30 at Euro. The dividend resolved at the Shareholders' Meeting on June 23, 2005, was 86 cents per individual share certificate for the fourth time in succession. The dividend yield, relative to the final price of Euro in June 2005, was 4.02 per cent. Special incidents in the period of the report In early 2005, INTERSEROH increased its shareholding in the "Westpfand" deposit system to 51 per cent. The same also applied for "Deutsche Pfand-Konzept GmbH". With the acquisition of two steel scrap recyclers, INTERSEROH has extended its position as one of the leading steel scrap recyclers in Germany. On the one hand, the firm of "Franz Jungnickl in Marktredwitz, Bavaria, which recycles not only steel and metal scrap, but also paper and plastics, was acquired. It has been merged with INTERSEROH Franken Rohstoff GmbH, Sennfeld. On the other hand, the activities of the firm of "Serog H. Suhrbier GmbH" in Bous, Saarland, were acquired. They will be seen under the corporate name of INTERSEROH Serog GmbH in future. With the two acquisitions, about 80,000 tons of steel and metal scrap per year will be put into the INTERSEROH Group. 3

4 Prospects Material Trade Services In the opinion of experts, an improvement of the economic situation will continue to be something to wait for. For this reason, INTERSEROH is expecting stagnating turnover in the non-food branches and thus stagnating quantities and turnovers in the collection of transport packaging. INTERSEROH is confident of achieving increasing quantities and turnovers in the branches to which new tailor-made services are being offered this year. Parallel to this, the extension of the self-disposal system and the work on the INTERSE- ROH dual system are being continued. The objective is to offer the INTERSEROH customers an increasingly better service to be found in the combination of various systems. With INTERSEROH, companies can order both recycling of their transport and likewise sales packaging and also the return of disposable containers with a deposit and end-of-life electronic appliances. In recycling management, INTERSEROH expects a stable development with moderate growth. The Services area is marked by increasing competition. Therefore, the margins are under continued pressure. INTERSEROH will further intensify its sales activities in order to strengthen and extend its market position. Operative chances will also result in the deposit area with the statutory withdrawal of the so-called insular solutions of the major discounters from May INTERSEROH is planning to offer all the modules of the demanded services; clearing for deposit settlement between bottling companies and the trade, inter-clearing to settle the deposit between the system providers, the complete logistics and the marketing of the collected materials. Operative effectivity will only be developed by the electric and electronic scrap recycling area as of March 24, 2006, the date on which the Electrical Scrap Act comes into force. The Eastern European member states of the EU form a focal point of international service activities by IN- TERSEROH. As the work for the set-up of functioning systems is very time-consuming, operative effectivity can only be expected in the medium to long term. This also applies for the raw materials resulting from this service business. Raw material trade In the raw material trade, INTERSEROH is also planning an extension of the sales activities and, as a result, an extension of the free trade margins both for the cardboard / paper / boxes fractions and also for plastics. In the timber area, the extension of the existing timber stocks and the acquisition of new locations are to extend the base of raw materials. This is to serve to fulfil the requirements of the derived timber products industry and also the biomass thermal power stations. In the course of the market changes, above all the internationally high growth of demand for raw materials and increased concentration of demand, INTERSEROH is increasingly orientating itself to the raw material trade with its classical competencies. With effect from July 1, 2005, the newly founded ISR INTERSEROH Rohstoffe GmbH started its operative activity. The new company will take over complete responsibility for the trade with the fractions of paper / cardboard / boxes, plastics and timber from the existing companies. Accordingly, clear structures for the continued success of INTERSEROH will be set up in good time. Prices are a potential risk factor in the trade with raw materials. The year of 2004 showed that the general shortage of raw materials causes the prices to rise significantly. Accordingly, the INTERSEROH turnover is also to be assessed as a function of the raw material prices. In the medium to long-term trend, the global demand for used paper will grow. 4

5 Steel and metal recycling In July, the prices for steel scrap rose again after a downward trend lasting eight months. With a continued short demand for scrap, INTERSEROH is expecting a more stable demand for the second half of The group also sees chances beyond the end of the current fiscal year in the further extension of niche business, in potentials from the Electric/Electronic Scrap Act and from increased cooperation with other INTERSEROH raw material sections. INTERSEROH will also continue to extend its activities to strengthen its market position by external growth. The segment of steel and metal recycling will also be marked by the extension of the EU to the East after INTERSEROH will be positioning itself more strongly here. All told, the INTERSEROH service and raw materials group taking factors of the overall economy into account expects a satisfactory showing as per the end of INTERSEROH Aktiengesellschaft zur Verwertung von Sekundärrohstoffen The Board of Directors Further information: INTERSEROH AG Investor Relations Stollwerckstraße 9a D Cologne (Köln) Tel: +49 (0) 22 03/ /264 Fax: +49 (0) 22 03/ aktie@interseroh.de 5