Annual Report 2007 - Muehlhan AG

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in the field of coatings for industrial facilities, we likewise
see a very large potential for growth. in particular, the entry
into the market in Qatar as well as the wind turbine business
allow us to look to the future with great optimism. the
same is true for the scaffolding business, which is constantly
growing, and which we see as part of the industrial
segment despite a strong focus on the maritime business,
because it is not directly attributable to surface protection.
Offshore Oil & Gas will rebound
Surface protection for offshore steel structures in the
oil and gas production industry was not capable of fulfilling
our high expectations in the past fiscal year. However,
we assume that we will be able to strengthen sales and
earnings in the field again in 2008. the reasons for our
confidence are the unchanged high level of oil prices and
the associated demand for our services so that existing
production facilities can be operated beyond their original
service life.
for the oil platform maintenance contract in the northern
North Sea that was signed last year, and which has not yet
been profitable, we were able to achieve changes to the
terms and conditions in the context of subsequent negotiations,
as a result of which we once again will be profitable
in this field in 2008. in addition to the high level of quality
of our work, the particular basis for the subsequent
negotiations was our exemplarily low accident rate which
is significantly lower than our competitors’ in this field.
Expansion efforts initially focused on core markets
during the past fiscal year, we completed comprehensive
market analyses in various geographic regions. the conclusion
from the analyses was that there are in fact sufficient
market prospects in africa in particular, but that at the
present time they were not justified by the risks associated
with development of the market. this is especially true for
the general political conditions in Nigeria and South africa.
for this reason, we will continue to concentrate the geographic
focus of our corporate Group on the markets in
Europe, the Middle East, the far East and North america.
Continued advancement of
project and risk management
Given the operational experiences of 2006 and 2007, we
will continue to expand the project management and the
risk management in 2008. through the introduction of the
technical review as well as important management tools
(such as the Nod system, a system for recording concurrent
contract costing), we already markedly advanced the
Group’s risk control instruments during the past fiscal year.
during the course of this year we will have integrated the
instruments closely into the processes. together with the
strategic adjustments, we will continue to advance our
Group’s successes.
Positive outlook 2008
the Executive board assumes that the steps taken, along
with the unchanged positive market environment in 2008,
will lead to a noticeable increase in earnings potential in
2008. the Executive board therefore assumes that sales
2008 will be in a range of between Eur 200 and 215 million.
We expect Ebitda in a range of Eur 16 to 19 million,
and Ebit between Eur 9 and 12 million. the Executive
board expects after-tax profits to fall in a range between
Eur 4 and 6 million. as a result of seasonal growth, significant
portions of earnings will be generated in the second
and third quarters.
Hamburg, 26 March 2008
the Executive board
dr andreas C. Krüger bernd Janssen
Carsten Ennemann