Technologies · Systems · Solutions - Dürr

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Amounts in €m
Amounts in €m
2004 2003
Total incoming
orders 183.6 176.9
Total sales 186.1 208.1
EBITDA –2.0 9.4
EBT –5.1 5.7
Capital 1.6 1.3
expenditures 1
Employees (Dec. 31) 909 932
1 On property, plant and equipment and
intangible assets
Amounts in €m
2004 2003
Total incoming
orders 320.2 286.2
Total sales 307.2 283.7
EBITDA 18.6 –4.0
EBT 10.9 –14.5
Capital 17.4 5.6
expenditures 1
2004 2003
Total incoming
orders 345.7 405.4
Total sales 374.0 445.0
EBITDA 6.0 11.3
EBT 2.0 7.5
Capital 8.1 6.5
expenditures 1
Employees (Dec. 31) 1,546 1,593
1 On property, plant and equipment and
intangible assets
Employees (Dec. 31) 2,084 2,255
1 On property, plant and equipment and
intangible assets
Final Assembly Systems
At € 345.7 million, total incoming orders in the Final Assembly business unit were
significantly below the previous year’s high figure, which indeed included extensive
deliveries of conveyor systems to the Paint Systems business unit. We felt considerable
capital spending restraint on the part of the automotive industry in the United
States, and several projects were postponed in China. By contrast, demand in Eastern
Europe increased. For example, we received large orders in the area of final assembly
from KIA Motors and Peugeot in Slovakia. At € 374.0 million, total sales were lower.
The critical factors here were the weak US dollar and declining sales revenues at our
US subsidiary Dürr Production Systems Inc. (DPS). The unsatisfactory EBT figure of
€ 2.0 million is also attributable primarily to DPS. The company had to absorb high
unscheduled expenses of € 8.3 million as a result of implementation problems involved
in the introduction of final assembly products on the US market. Our capital expenditures
on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets amounted to € 8.1 million
and were mainly incurred for expansion of the site in Chemnitz, Germany. Of that
total, € 1.1 million was for goodwill arising in connection with the squeeze-out at Carl
Schenck AG and was assigned to Final Assembly Systems. As of December 31, 2004,
we had 47 fewer employees than at the same time a year earlier. While we reduced
staff in the United States, we expanded capacity in China.
Ecoclean
In the Ecoclean business unit, we managed to increase total incoming orders in 2004
by € 6.7 million to € 183.6 million. We benefited primarily from an improved market
situation in the United States, while demand in Europe was unsatisfactory. Since the
upswing in US business could not offset the European market’s weakness, total sales
of € 186.1 million were € 22.0 million below the previous year’s level. Earnings before
taxes were negative in the amount of € –5.1 million. The primary reason, aside from
low sales, was unscheduled expenses of € 6.8 million in the Coolant Filtration product
line. We limited capital expenditures on property, plant and equipment and intangible
assets to € 1.6 million. They primarily involved replacement expenditures. We reduced
personnel capacity by another 23 employees in light of the difficult market situation.
Measuring Systems
(excluding Development Test Systems product line)
The Measuring Systems business unit increased incoming orders by 11.9% on the
previous year to € 320.2 million. At € 307.2 million, total sales were up by 8.3% over
the previous year. The largest contribution to this positive development came from
business in process technology for the mining industry, which we managed to expand
considerably. We registered growth above all in the regions of Asia, Africa, and
Australia. Incoming orders and sales each increased there by more than 30%. The
restructuring efforts implemented in 2003 had a positive effect on earnings. Earnings
before taxes rose to € 10.9 million (previous year: € –14.5 million). Correspondingly,
the EBT margin came to 3.5%. Capital expenditures on property, plant and equipment
and intangible assets amounted to € 17.4 million, after € 5.6 million in the previous
year. Of the total, € 13.0 million was attributable to goodwill. That resulted from
increasing our stake in Schenck Australia Pty. Ltd. to 100% and the squeeze-out at Carl
Schenck AG. Although 128 new jobs were created in China, the net number of employees
declined by 171 to 2,084, primarily due to closing the pre-manufacturing operation
in Darmstadt, Germany.