10 April 2015, 00:00
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Total Group revenues increased by 3.7 percent to EUR 1,560.2 million.
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Net profit for the period increased to EUR 15.7 million (previous year: EUR - 19.4 million).
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Orders in hand are at a pleasing level with EUR 762.7 million (previous year: 765.2 million).
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Dividend proposal for 2014: EUR 0.15 per share
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Forecast for 2015: the Group is expecting total Group revenues of about EUR 1.6 billion, profit after tax of about EUR 18 to 23 million and EBIT of about EUR 75 million.
The BAUER Group had to shoulder some burdens in 2014. The international construction and machinery manufacturing concern was able to compensate for these by a one-time income item, thereby achieving its earnings targets for the past financial year.
Total Group revenues increased by 3.7 percent from EUR 1,504.2 million to EUR 1,560.2 million. The result was encumbered in the past year by further losses from the major Center Hill Dam project in the USA, ongoing restructuring in the Resources segment as well as weakness in the mining business. One-time income was achieved through the sale of 21 percent of shares in the subsidiary in Oman. In total, this led to an EBIT of EUR 76.4 million (previous year: EUR 30.1 million). The net profit for the period was EUR 15.7 million. A loss of EUR 19.4 million had been reported in the previous year.
The Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a dividend amounting to EUR 0.15 per share should be paid for 2014. In the previous year, the funds had been retained within the company. “2014 brought some successes, but overall we cannot be satisfied. Nevertheless, we want our shareholders to be able to participate in the results achieved due to the one-time income item,” announced Prof. Thomas Bauer, Chairman of the Management Board of BAUER AG. “In the medium term, we intend to stick to our dividend policy and are aiming to return to a dividend quota between 25 and 30 percent of reported profit after tax.”
Business segments
With its three segments – Construction, Equipment and Resources – and its broadly diversified business model, the Group operates through more than 110 subsidiaries in some 70 countries around the world.
The Construction segment was able to complete some unique reference projects successfully, including the foundation works of what will be in future the tallest buildings in the world, the Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, and in Europe, the Lakhta Tower in St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition, there was a section of what will soon be the longest bridge in the world, between Hong Kong and Macau. In the 2014 business year, the segment achieved total Group revenues of EUR 713.0 million, down slightly on the previous year’s value (EUR 741.7 million) by 3.9 percent. The reason for this is that more major projects were handled in the year before than in the financial year just completed. EBIT increased from EUR 21.2 million to EUR 25.1 million. The net profit for the period decreased from EUR 5.5 million to EUR 1.9 million. This is chiefly due to economic problems with the Center Hill dam project in the USA. The project will be completed in the second quarter of 2015 – with an outstanding technical performance. Orders in hand reflect the large number of small and medium projects in all regions of the world: at the year end, these amounted to EUR 450.9 million compared to the figure for the same time in the previous year, EUR 498.7 million, which was characterized by major projects.
The Equipment segment was once again able to sell more machines despite a fiercely competitive environment. Total Group revenues increased slightly by 3.7 percent from EUR 628.6 million to EUR 651.8 million. EBIT was 14.6 percent up from EUR 32.2 million to EUR 36.9 million, and the net profit for the period increased significantly from EUR 5.1 million to EUR 9.5 million. The markets of the Middle and Far East enjoyed particularly positive development, as did sales of large machinery and cutters. Deep Drilling achieved an additional success: the engineering contract agreed in May 2014 with Saxon Energy Services Inc. bore fruit in December with an order for two onshore deep drilling rigs with a hook load of 375 metric tons. Orders in hand at EUR 158.7 million were 36.2 percent higher than in the previous year (EUR 116.5 million).
The Resources segment was characterized by many reorganization measures in the past financial year: activities were merged or in some cases terminated and the company withdrew from some regions. Total Group revenues of the segment increased significantly by 33.9 percent from EUR 188.9 million to EUR 252.8 million, above all because of the environment and water treatment areas. In addition, this includes the capital and consolidation income amounting to EUR 36.5 million from the sale of 21 percent of shares in the subsidiary BAUER Nimr LLC in Oman, in which the BAUER Group previously held 70 percent. Business with mining customers was weak and imposed a burden on the segment. EBIT was once again significantly positive following the loss made during the previous year (EUR -24.0 million), at EUR 15.9 million. The net profit for the period was EUR 4.3 million (previous year: EUR -31.4 million). Orders in hand increased slightly, by 2.0 percent, from EUR 150.0 million to EUR 153.0 million.
Orders in hand and outlook
Overall, the Group's orders in hand at the end of the financial year are at a good level. The figure of EUR 762.7 million is approximately at the level of the previous year (EUR 765.2 million), and would have been higher were it not for the Russia/Ukraine crisis and the severe decline in the price of oil.
“We are confident that we will be able to perform well in our challenging markets during the current financial year, even though we will probably still be confronted with numerous geopolitical and global economic risks,” commented Prof. Thomas Bauer. “In any event, the Group can look back on a company history spanning 225 years in 2015.”
The Group is expecting total Group revenues in 2015 to be about EUR 1.6 billion. The expected profit after tax is about EUR 18 to 23 million, with EBIT forecast to be about EUR 75 million. As is customary, however, the first quarter will make a loss, which will then be balanced out over the subsequent quarters.
Our full Annual Report, including a detailed analysis of the individual segments and markets, can be found on our website at http://www.bauer.de.
Source: BAUER Aktiengesellschaft; Bauer Group