SIMONA records substantial growth in revenue and earnings in first half of 2011
"All sales regions around the globe managed to use the stable economic conditions to their advantage over the course of the first half. Demand for extruded sheets used in the area of tank and apparatus construction as well as the photovoltaic industry was particularly buoyant," said Wolfgang Moyses, CEO of SIMONA AG.
Despite the continued rise in the overall cost of materials, the Group managed to drive EBIT up by 74.4 per cent to €10.6 million. Within this context, optimised capacity utilisation and stringent price management proved decisive. The Group's EBIT margin also improved markedly, rising to 6.5 per cent (prev. year: 4.7 per cent).
Compared to 31 December 2010, total assets increased by €17.2 million to €262.2 million. At €7.1 million (prev. year: €2.9 million), SIMONA expanded its capital expenditure by a significant margin in the first half.
The plastics-processing specialist anticipates that business conditions will be much more difficult in the second half of the year. The national debt crisis currently affecting some of the world's major industrialised nations has caused significant market uncertainty. "Against the backdrop of a considerable deterioration in market sentiment, investments in machinery and equipment, a key factor influencing our own business, may be adversely affected, despite the fundamental strength of the economy," said Wolfgang Moyses. "In view of the positive performance in the first half, however, we currently anticipate that we will be in a position to achieve our revenue target of €290 million and profit before taxes of €15 million."
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