Business News
CEWE COLOR doubles earnings per share and expects to increase earnings again in 2011
Wednesday 23. February 2011 - - Record turnover of EUR 447 million (+9.0 %) - Fourth quarter with high growth in sales and earnings - EBIT reaches EUR 28.2 million (+50.9%) - Earnings per share: EUR 2.02 (+ 103.1 %) - Dividend to rise (2009 EUR 1.05) - Earnings per share to rise by up to 39% in 2011
CEWE COLOR Holding AG (SDAX, ISIN: DE0005403901) achieved or exceeded all its targets in the 2010 business year according to preliminary unaudited figures. Due to the fact that the fourth quarter was strong, as expected, turnover rose by 9% to EUR 446.8 million (exchange-rate adjusted EUR 434.4 million). The company has thus exceeded its target corridor of EUR 420 to 430 million (2009 EUR 409.8 million). The company also improved its EBIT margin from 4.6% to 6.3%, which means that EBIT, at EUR 28.2 million, is 50.9% higher than that of last year (2009 EUR 18.7 million). As already announced, the European market and technological leader in the field of photofinishing has more than doubled its earnings per share, from EUR 1.00 to EUR 2.02. Against the background of this positive development, the Board of Management has announced that it will be proposing a higher dividend (2009 EUR 1.05). In the 2011 business year turnover is expected to rise to up to EUR 460 million and the annual net profit to increase by up to 39%. ‘In addition to the fast pace of innovation and intensified marketing activities, our investments in an efficient industrial, scalable system of production are paying off. Next year we intend to uphold our value-oriented growth with the CEWE PHOTO BOOK and continue with the development of commercial digital printing,’ emphasised Dr. Rolf Hollander, Chairman of the Board of Management of CEWE COLOR Holding AG.
Fourth-quarter turnover grew by 17.7% – trend towards a shift in seasons confirmed
Thanks to strong quarterly sales of EUR 150 million (+17.7%), with turnover at EUR 446.8 million (2009 EUR 409.8 million), CEWE COLOR achieved the highest turnover in the history of the company in 2010. In addition to the outstanding development of retail business (+18.5%), online photofinishing (+22%) was the biggest sales driver. More than anything else, the growth in the number of CEWE PHOTO BOOKS sold (+19% to 4.3 million books) and in sales of other added-value products (photo calendars +45%, photo greeting cards +57% and wall decorations +90%) contributed considerably to this development. This saw turnover per photo rising from 12.2 cents to 13.5 cents, confirmation of the trend ‘from mass to class’. The volume of photos was reduced slightly by 3.8% to 2.5 billion, as had been expected given this background; the target of 2.35 billion photos was nevertheless exceeded. The number of analogue photos from films dropped by 34% to 368 million photos. The overall proportion of analogue photos in the total volume of photos was only 15% in 2010. The strong fourth quarter was impressive confirmation of the trend towards a shift in season in favour of the Christmas quarterly period: since CEWE COLOR products are increasingly being used for gifts, turnover generated in the fourth quarter rose to 34% (2009: 31%). The proportion of EBIT even amounted to more than 77%.
Income benefits from added-value products
EBIT grew far more strongly than turnover, soaring by 50.9%, from EUR 18,7 to EUR 28.2 million (target corridor EUR 24 to 29 million). The EBIT margin rose from 4.6% to 6.3%. Earnings before tax (EBT) also increased by 57.4% to EUR 26.4 million (target corridor: EUR 22 to 27 million). As already announced, CEWE COLOR more than doubled its after-tax earnings, from EUR 6.7 to EUR 13.7 million. Earnings per share rose from EUR 1.00 to EUR 2.02.
Higher dividend planned
Against the background of this positive development in earnings and the healthy capital ratio of 42% (2009 capital ratio of 41.6%), Dr. Hollander announced that a higher dividend than that of 2009 would be proposed for 2010: ‘I am quite confident that the Supervisory Board and the Annual General Meeting will approve of our proposal of an increased dividend.’ The specific dividend proposal will probably be submitted on 23 March.
2011: earnings per share to rise by up to 39%
On the basis of rising turnover per photo, CEWE COLOR expects to see turnover growing to up to EUR 460 million in 2011 (target corridor EUR 447 to 460 million) and EBIT at EUR 28 to EUR 31 million (an increase of up to 10%). The annual net profit is to climb by up to 39 % in 2011, to EUR 16 to 19 million. This corresponds with earnings per share in the range of EUR 2.36 to EUR 2.80. The success of the CEWE PHOTO BOOK is also to be further extended. In 2010 the CEWE PHOTO BOOK raised its market share in Europe to just over 25%. ‘In 2011 we intend to intensify the expansion of commercial digital printing business in order to create a basis for systematically opening up this attractive market in years to come,’ Dr. Rolf Hollander explained. CEWE COLOR is currently establishing an online digital printing service for small volumes of high-quality, fast prints with viaprinto.de. The viaprinto.de webshop is easy to operate, processing PDF as well as Word and PowerPoint files. Earnings projected for 2011 include start-up financing for viaprinto, which is to make a relevant contribution to sales and earnings in future.