DGAP-News: A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Earnings p

DGAP-News: A.S. Création Tapeten AG / Key word(s): Interim Report A.S. Création Tapeten AG: Earnings position almost unchanged 04.11.2013 / 08:10 --------------------------------------------------------------------- A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Gummersbach (ISIN DE000A1TNNN5) Earnings position almost unchanged A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Europe's leading wallpaper manufacturer, today published the interim report for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013. A summary is provided below: Lower-than-expected revenue growth A.S. Création was able to increase its revenues in all regions with the exception of Germany. At EUR 153.1 million, Group sales revenues were up by 0.8% on the previous year's EUR 151.9 million. This revenue growth is below expectations. On the one hand, nine-month revenue growth in non-EU Eastern European markets, at 12.2%, was lower than had been expected, as the marketing of the products manufactured by the new Russian plant is proceeding more slowly than projected. On the other hand, sales revenues in Germany were disappointing. The Managing Board had expected domestic sales revenues to decline in 2013, as several major (first) orders had a positive effect on sales revenues in 2012. At 7.7%, the drop in gross revenues in the first nine months of the year was stronger than expected, however. Earnings position almost unchanged Earnings before interest and taxes improved by 1.3% from EUR 11.6 million in the first nine months of 2012 to a new high of EUR 11.7 million in the reporting period. As this increase was almost entirely in sync with the increase in sales revenues, the earnings position remained almost unchanged in the current fiscal year. At 7.7%, the EBIT margin for the first nine months of 2013 was more or less on a par with the previous year's 7.6%. Higher start-up losses in Russia weighing on the bottom line Earnings were adversely affected by the start-up losses of the Russian production company. The joint venture, A.S. & Palitra, took the new production facility into operation at the end of October 2012. During the start-up phase, losses naturally occur and are reflected in high reject rates and low efficiency. Due to the above-mentioned delays in marketing the Russian-made products, the start-up losses increased more strongly than had been expected. At EUR 2.6 million, A.S. Création's pro-rata share in these losses in the first nine months of 2013 was much higher than in the same period of the previous year, when it had amounted to EUR 0.5 million. As a result, net profit for the first nine months, at EUR 4.9 million, was down by 28.8% on the previous year's EUR 6.8 million, which was unsatisfactory. Projections for 2013 will probably not be met Against the background of the business trend in the first nine months of 2013, the Managing Board assumes that the Group's projections for the full year 2013, which provided for consolidated sales revenues of between EUR 210 million and EUR 220 million and a net profit of between EUR 9 million and EUR 11 million, will probably not be met. From today's point of view, the Managing Board expects A.S. Création to generate consolidated sales revenues of between EUR 200 million and EUR 210 million and a net profit of EUR 5.0 million to EUR 6.5 million in 2013. The activities in Russia in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the rouble/euro exchange rate trend in the rest of the year will be the main factors influencing the Group's net profit. Accordingly, the earnings forecast for the full year 2013 remains subject to great uncertainty. The Group's key figures for the first nine months of 2013 are summarised below: <pre> 01.01.- 01.01.- Change 30.09. 30.09. 2013 2012 Sales EUR '000 153,094 151,930 0.8 % Earnings before interest and EUR '000 11,713 11,558 1.3 % taxes (EBIT) Earnings before income taxes EUR '000 8,550 10,193 -16.1 % Net profit EUR '000 4,852 6,811 -28.8 % Earnings per share EUR/share 1.76 2.47 -28.7 % Cash flow EUR '000 13,789 13,866 -0.6 % Capital expenditures EUR '000 7,292 10,258 -28.9 % Depreciation EUR '000 7,045 7,362 -4.3 % Number of employees (average) 836 828 1.0 % </pre> Gummersbach, November 4, 2013 A.S. Création Tapeten AG The Managing Board Inquiries: Maik Krämer, Director of Finance and Controlling, phone +49-(0)2261/542-387, fax +49-(0)22 61/542-304, e-mail m.kraemer@as-creation.de The full interim report is available at www.as-creation.de or from A.S. Création Tapeten AG, Frau Börngen, Südstr. 47, D - 51645 Gummersbach, phone: +49-(0)22 61/542-350, e-mail: investor@as-creation.de End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 04.11.2013 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: A.S. Création Tapeten AG Südstra�e 47 51645 Gummersbach Germany Phone: +49 22 61 54 2-0 Fax: +49 22 61 54 2-3 04 E-mail: investor@as-creation.de Internet: http://www.as-creation.de ISIN: DE000A1TNNN5 WKN: A1TNNN Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 237244 04.11.2013