This is a summary of the first quarter 2012 report published today. The complete first quarter 2012 report with tables is available at http://investor.cavotec.com/results.cfm. Investors should not rely on summaries only, but should review the complete reports with tables.
- Revenues increased 23.5% to EUR 46,570 thousands (1Q11: 37,718)
- Operating result up 43.9% to EUR 3,086 thousands (1Q11: 2,145)
- Operating margin increased to 6.6% compared to 5.7% in 1Q11
- Very strong cash generation in the period, net cash flow from operations EUR 4,371 thousands (1Q11: -3,017)
- Order Intake for the last twelve months rolling reached EUR 218,545 thousands, up 36.2% (1Q11: 160,455)
- Order Book stood at EUR 100,984 thousands, increase of 29.7% compared to 31 March 2011 (77,830)
A comment from the CEO
1Q12 was a positive quarter for Cavotec with good levels of activity throughout all our Market Units. Ports & Maritime continued to show very strong momentum throughout the quarter, with all MU’s experiencing positive growth compared to 1Q11. Our innovations played a significant role in achieving these results, with our AMP systems booking especially positive results in 1Q12. I’m also pleased to see the very encouraging Order Intake in the quarter for the Airports and Mining & Tunnelling Market Units.
One of our main goals for 2012 is to strengthen the level of profitability compared to 2011. Already in 1Q I can report that we are well on track to achieve this goal. By building on our solid FY11 results, continuing to monitor expenditure and through diligent customer support, we have been able to book some noticeable achievements in three key areas:
- Margins returning to historical levels
- Continued increase in exposure to emerging and established non-European markets
- Strengthening of Cash Flow
Looking ahead
As noted above, our commitment to increase profitability levels by restoring our margins and controlling operating expenses already had a noticeable effect on the 1Q12 results. The positive trends seen during the record year 2011 also continued throughout 1Q12. The book to bill ratio remained comfortable over 1:1 with the Order Book subsequently increasing to EUR 100,984 thousands at the end of the quarter from EUR 95,042 at the end of 2011 (1Q11: 77,830).
Despite on-going concerns about the global economy and some European countries entering into a double-dip recession, I feel that Cavotec is currently well positioned to weather economic downturns without significant impact to our overall results.
The regions
1Q12 saw a consistent development throughout all of our regions, with some regions even reporting a significant increase in activity compared to the previous period.
Americas registered a revenue growth of 105.4% in 1Q12 compared to the same period last year. The acquisition of Cavotec INET, in August 2011, contributed with 84.2%. Organic growth came to 17.5% while the foreign exchange stood at 3.7%. These numbers combined with a 106.0% increase in Order Intake indicates a positive trend for Cavotec in the USA market.
Europe & Africa had an extremely strong 1Q12 and reported a 111.0% increase in Gross Operating Result compared to 1Q11. A main contributor to this growth was North Europe region. Order Intake was up 20.6% compared to 1Q11, with the order from Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Ghana contributing a large part of this growth.
Excluding the effect of the Bahrain project, which contributed significantly to revenues in 1Q11, the Middle East & India region recorded the largest increase in revenues in 1Q12. Order Intake for the region saw a slight decrease in 1Q12 compared to the previous period.
The Far East region increased revenues with 22.4% while simultaneously registering an uptick in overall activity throughout the region despite the seasonal influences traditionally seen at the beginning of the year.
Australasia & South-East Asia registered lower figures for 1Q12 compared to the same period last year, although overall prospects for the region continue to look good. The slight drop was mainly due to several large projects being invoiced in 1Q11, thereby skewing the overall comparison.
Revenues, earnings and profitability
Quarterly results
In 1Q12, revenues reached EUR 46,570 thousands up 23.5% compared to the same period last year (1Q11: 37,718). Importantly, this quarter registered higher operating margins compared to the same period of last year while operating expenses did increase but at a significantly slower pace compared to the increase of revenues. Thanks to these positive factors our Operating Result registered a 43.9% increase, amounting to a total of EUR 3,957 thousands (1Q11: 2,145).
Net finance items were negative EUR 1,162 thousands (1Q11: -261), mainly due to unfavourable exchange rate fluctuations. The tax cost was EUR 853, equal to an effective tax rate of 44%, influenced by the skewed distribution of the profitability across different countries, which should normalize towards the historical levels by the end of the year.
Net profit amounted to EUR 1,071 thousands (1Q11: 1,391).
Cash flow
Operating cash flow for 1Q12 was exceptionally positive at EUR 4,371 (1Q11: -3,017), especially when considering the traditionally higher working capital needs for the period. CAPEX amounted to EUR 4,167 mainly due to the investment in new production and sales facilities in Germany.
Net debt
The Group’s net debt decreased to EUR 23,178 thousands from 24,738 thousands at the end of FY11. Twelve months rolling leverage ratio (Net Debt/EBITDA) decreased from 1.31 to 1.21, while the net debt/equity ratio improved from 25.0% to 24.3%.
Employees
On 31 March 2012, Cavotec employed 909 people, an increase of 13 since 31 December 2011.
For the full 1Q12 Report please download it from: http://investor.cavotec.com/results.cfm
ENDS
For further details please contact:
Michael Scheepers - Director, Investor Relations & PR
Telephone: +41919114011
Email: investor@cavotec.com
