With respect to the expiry date Nov 17th, 2009 (4:00 pm) of the voluntary public takeover offer bid of GLV Inc (via Eimco Water Technology GmbH) to the shareholders of Christ Water Technology AG, the executive board of CHRIST decided to report preliminary key figures for the quarter ended Sept 30th, 2009 (Q1 - Q3 results).
“The third quarter was dominated by the ongoing reshaping of CHRIST in a still challenging economic environment and ended with the Closing of the sale of the Pharma & Life Science business as per Sept 30th, 2009. The proceeds of this transaction were a vital contribution to re-arrange and finance the streamlining and focusing of CHRIST to the future core businesses in Ultrapure Water, Process Water & Reuse and Municipal Water Treatment / Desalination (the continuing operations)” says Malek Salamor, CEO of CHRIST.
Besides the Food & Beverage activities, where CHRIST further evaluates the possibility of entering into a strategic alliance also the Pharma & Life Science business will be reported in Q3 as discontinued operations.
| Preliminary Key Figures Q1-Q3 2009 (YTD compared to prior period): |
| Net Sales |
€ 107 million (-23% continuing operat.) |
€ 171 million (-24%, contin.+discont.) |
| Order intake |
€ 150 million (+56%; continuing operat.) |
€ 203 million (+ 8%; contin.+discont.) |
| Orders on hand |
€ 147 million (+13%; continuing operat.) |
€ 160 million (-14%; contin.+discont.) |
| EBIT |
€ -2.1 million (€ -4.5 million); continuing operations |
| Net Result |
€ -1.2 million (€ -14 million as per 30.09.08); continuing.+discontinued operation including the special effect from sale of pharma business |
| Equity |
€ 35.8 million as per 30.09.09 (€ 37 million as per 31.12.08) |
Net Debt
|
€ 45 million as per 30.09.09 (€ 55 million as per 31.12.08)
€ 30 million as per 02.10.09 after receipt remaining cash of pharma transaction |
| Preliminary Key Figures Q3 2009 (compared to Q3 2008) |
| EBIT |
€ -3.0 million (€ - 4,5 million); continuing operations |
Net Result
|
€ -3.8 million (€ - 6.2 million); continuing operations
€ 3.4 million (€ - 15.5 million); continuing.+discontinued operations including the special effect from sale of pharma business |
Operating result in continuing operations was hit by weak markets in the industrial sector, including the microelectronics and general industries where some expected order intakes have been further delayed, thus resulting in an under-utilisation in CHRIST Ultrapure and Process Water entities. Good market conditions and healthy business activities can be reported from Municipal Water Treatment Division. The cleaning and phasing out of loss-making projects in power as well as in MWT also contributed to the negative result in Q3.
The realised profit out of the sale of Pharma & Life Science business was negatively impacted by a slowdown in several pharma markets in Q3 and the cost of settlement of P&LS activities and projects in the course of the selling process.
Outlook
Malek Salamor: “It is a disappointing quarterly result for us, especially if we look back on the positive restructuring jobs we have done so far. But weak market conditions in important areas resulted in further delays of project awards with immediate loss implication in some key companies. Although the timing for placement of orders always leaves room for uncertainty, we are confident to receive new important double-digit million orders in the continuing business in Q4 2009. The solid backlog at end of 2009 will be a strong base for recovery and return to profitability.”
In the light of still volatile markets, lagging impacts of restructuring steps and the requirement of a sound financial basis the executive board of CHRIST still supports the takeover offer of GLV Group which would combine two technologically and regionally mostly complementary groups of companies into a globally leading water technology provider.
The full Quarterly Report will be published on November 27th, 2009.
Contacts:
CHRIST WATER TECHNOLOGY AG, A-5310 Mondsee, Walter-Simmer-Str. 4
Harald Wegscheider, CFO, Tel +43 (0)6232 9011 1002
Ralf Burchert, Investor Relations & Corporate Communication
Tel. +43 (0)6232 5011 1113, Fax +43 (0)6232 5011 1109, E-mail: ralf.burchert@christ-water.com
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