Business News
Oberthur Technologies H1 2008 Results
Thursday 25. September 2008 - Strong Growth in Sales: + 14.7 % Compared to H1 2007 (+ 12.7 % at Same Perimeter and Constant Exchange Rates) Increase of 38% of Operating Income, at 9.2% of Sales for H1 2008
As a reminder, the following consolidated audited H1 2008 and H1 2007
Accounts present the global view of Oberthur Technologies’ business on a
homogeneous perimeter following the combination of the former Oberthur Card
Systems on the one hand, and the Security Printing and Cash Protection
(SP&CP) assets of FCOF on the other hand. XPonCard is included as of May 1st.
Oberthur Technologies has reported H1 2008 sales of EUR401.5M,
up 14.7% over H1 2007, breaking new records in terms of volumes and revenue.
This first half has seen healthy growth in Card but slow sales in Fiduciary
and Cash Protection.
Oberthur Technologies – P&L Consolidated
In MEUR H1 H1 Variation
2008 2007 2008/2007
Sales 401,5 350,2 +14,7%
Gross Profit 253,3 218,6 +15,9%
% of Sales 63,1% 62,4%
Compensation and Benefits -107,2 -90,9 +17,9%
Other external charges -90,5 -72,0 +25,6%
Other -5,1 -5,2
EBITDA 50,6 50,5 +0,2%
% EBITDA / Sales 12,6% 14,4%
Depreciation & provisions -13,8 -23,9
Operating income 36,8 26,5 +38,8%
% of Sales 9,2% 7,6%
EBIT 28,3 17,5 +61,7%
% EBIT / Sales 7,0% 5,0%
Net Income 14,7 10,3 +42,7%
% of Sales 3,7% 2,9%
Improvement in profitability
Gross profit grew 15.9%, at 63.1% of sales, an improvement of 0.7
percentage point.
Operating Income came in at EUR36.8M, or 9.2% of sales, up 38.8% versus
H1 2007.
Restructuring and non-recurrent expenses accounted for EUR8.5M of which
EUR6.7M are related to XPonCard integration plan.
EBIT was EUR28.3M, or 7.0% of sales, up 61.7% from H1 2007.
Net results were EUR14.7M, up 42.7% from H1 2007.
Balance sheet
Net debt increased from EUR76.0M to EUR196.9M, including
EUR95.0 added on the occasion of XPonCard acquisition.
Operations generated in H1 2008 cash flows of EUR19M.
It has to be noted that the company spent over the period
EUR23.7M in capital expenditures, capitalized EUR3M in R&D, paid a dividend
of 18.6MEUR, executed a share buy back program for EUR4M, and acquired
XPonCard for EUR75.9M.
Working capital increased by EUR16M reflecting growth in the
business, integration of XPonCard, but slight negative variation in account
receivable.
Gearing at end of June was 0.71
More detailed figures are enclosed in appendix.
Card Systems
Revenue
Revenues in H1 2008 were posted at EUR336M, up 20.9%. At
constant exchange rates and constant perimeter (excluding XPonCard), growth
would have been 18.4%. Mobile segment led the growth, Identity restarted to
increase strongly in 2nd quarter, while payment excluding the XPonCard
acquisition was flat.
By region, Asia, South America and the emerging countries of
EMEA were the most dynamic.
Gross Margin
Gross margin remained at a good level, with 29.7%. The
2006/2007 restructuring program gave its full impact, price pressure remained
at a normal level compensated by the continuous cost improvements. 85% of the
SIM production was in Asia.
Operational Expenses
Marketing deployment and R&D expansion continued. With the
impact of sales increase, Opex decreased from 22.2% to 20.8% of sales.
Profitability
Operating income improved to EUR29.3M, 8.7% of sales. After
EUR7.6M of restructuring charges mostly linked to the XPonCard integration,
EBIT amounted to EUR21.6M, 6.4% sales.
The integration of XPonCard is confirming its economic
potential and is progressing on schedule. It will give its full impact of 8 –
EUR10M per year mid 2009.
Security Printing and Cash protection:
Revenue
In SP&CP activities, revenue was down 9.0%, impacted by
unfavourable cut-off at end of June for Security Printing, and a very slow
first half in Cash Protection mostly explained by one large customer in
France being late in renewing its equipment. Despite the low reported sales
figure, the level of activity was strong in Security Printing.
Gross Profit
Gross profit remained stable, at 72.8%.
Expenses
Expenses were down 3.3%, at EUR45.9M. The ratio of expenses on
sales was up to 62.5%, reflecting the delayed sales in the period.
Profitability
Operating income was down 3.9 percentage points at 10.3% of
sales, from 14.3% for the same period last year.
2008 Outlook
Since July 1st, the company is operating under its new
divisional organisation.
Card Systems
In mobile, the good market conditions are holding. After a
very good 1st half 2008, the Q3-Q4 peak season could be less marked this
year. Payment benefits from EMV migrations while magnetic stripe cards slow
down. Overall, this segment will grow steadily. Profitability for 2008,
benefiting from higher sales and the full impact of the 2007 restructuring,
will improve compared to 2007.
Security Printing
In Banknote printing, the backlog is still strong and H2
should see a recovery in published sales figure. The company is confident it
can achieve its growth objectives in full year 2008.
Cash Protection
Cash Protection should see the start of the recovery in the
second half, while it will show a decrease compared to full year 2007.
Identity
ID market has recorded an important win with the award of the
Philippines contract for electronic passports, including both devices and
system. Together with restart of existing contracts, it should allow the new
ID division to post healthy growth in H2 2008 versus H2 2007 (pro forma).
Overall the company confirms its strong growth objective for
2008