1/2008 - KSPG AG

Newsline
Rheinmetall with strong increase in sales and profit
Order intake leaps by 19 percent
Düsseldorf. For the first nine months
of 2007, Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall
AG again showed dynamic growth in all
its key financial indicators. Sales and
order intake rose clearly and corporate
profits improved even more appreciably.
EBIT climbed over 40 percent to
€ 157 million, net income jumped from
€ 54 million to € 79 million. For all of
2007, Rheinmetall counted on significant
growth and much upgraded results.
Says Klaus Eberhardt, Rheinmetall
AG’s CEO: “Rheinmetall is firmly on
track for achieving its 2007 goals. On
the basis of the contracts already
booked we will sustain our organic
growth and continuously enhance the
value of the group.”
In the first three quarters (3Q) of 2007,
Rheinmetall generated group sales of
€ 2,841 million (up from € 2,570 million),
equivalent to an increase of 11 percent
versus 3Q/2006. The Defence sector
outgrew year-earlier sales by 24 percent,
the Automotive sector advanced
by 3 percent. Order intake surged, too;
groupwide orders were booked at the
value of altogether € 2,966 million (up
from € 2,496 million). Orders on hand
at September 30, 2007, added up to
€ 3,331 million (up 17 percent).
The Rheinmetall group’s EBIT for
3Q/2007 soared from € 111 million to
€ 157 million; the EBIT margin rose
from 4.3 to 5.5 percent, also a strong
performance. The group’s EBT advanced
by € 43 million to € 117 million
Issue: February /March 2008
while net income at € 79 million was a
€ 25 million improvement. 3Q earnings
per share after minority interests of € 3
million climbed from € 1.48 to € 2.18.
3Q/2007 sales by Automotive were a
repeat of the solid H1/2007 performance
and rose € 50 million or 3 percent
versus the year-earlier period to € 1,695
million, thus outpacing generally
stalling auto production in this sector’s
especially important markets of Western
Europe, Japan, and Nafta. EBIT at Automotive
for 3Q/2007 amounted to € 82
million, up € 8 million or 11 percent.
A cornerstone in Automotive’s future
growth was laid in the form of a contract
concluded with a major European
carmaker with which Kolbenschmidt
Pierburg is demonstrating its comprehensive
engine expertise in the areas
of emission and CO2 reduction as well
as lightweight manufacture. Besides
an exhaust gas recirculation system including
cooler and bypass, the contract
includes aluminum engine blocks, aluminum
pistons, the newest plain bearing
technology and oil and water
pumps. At full series production the
sales volume corresponds to around
€ 170 million annually.
Likewise promising is business with
Japanese auto manufacturers, with
sales this year for the first time in excess
of € 100 million.
At € 1,143 million, the Defence sector
showed a 24-percent or € 221 million
sales rise in 3Q/2007. Chempro GmbH,
Newsline is a summary of the most
important news articles published
in “Das Profil”, the company newspaper
of the Rheinmetall group
2
Bonn, in which a 51-percent stake was
acquired in April 2007, accounted for
€ 29 million of this. All divisions shared
in Defence’s significant sales advance.
Order intake at Defence also surged,
by around 48 percent to € 1,267 million
(up from € 853 million). One major
contract ahead is the new Puma infantry
fighting vehicle for the German
armed forces whose procurement was
approved by the German parliament on
November 8, 2007, at the value of altogether
€ 3 billion. Rheinmetall’s share
of this is one-half.
During the period, Defence almost
doubled its 3Q EBIT to € 81 million. As
a consequence, the EBIT margin rose
from 4.7 to 7.1 percent in the first nine
Order booked: Rheinmetall Defence, Düsseldorf, supplies the vehicle electronics for the new 8x8 wheel armored Boxer vehicle.
months. The Q3 EBIT includes a € 10
million gain from the sale of Telerob
Gesellschaft für Fernhantierungstechnik
GmbH.
For all of 2007, the Rheinmetall group
predicted a sales advance of 10 percent
to around € 4 billion and hence
well in excess of the 5-percent annual
organic growth benchmark. Automotive
is budgeted to raise its sales by 3
percent, Defence its by around 20 percent.As
to the 2006 EBIT of € 215 million,
Rheinmetall is looking to a strong
sales-outpacing improvement in the region
of € 250–€ 260 million. Automotive’s
EBIT is predicted to inch up to at
least € 115 million (from € 113 million),
Defence’s should surge to a minimum
of € 145 million (up from € 111 million).
Publisher: Rheinmetall AG
P.O. Box 10 42 61
D-40033 Düsseldorf
newsline@rheinmetall.com
Responsible:
Peter Rücker
Editor-in-chief:
Rolf D. Schneider