For FY 11, Chargeurs reported a 7.9% increase yoy in revenues to €552.3m, mainly due to a price effect of +10.2% partly offset by a 2.3% decline in volumes.
The Wool division performed well at €185m (33.5% revenues) which represented a 23.4% increase compared to the same period last year (+18% in Q1, +27% in H1 and 24.3% for 9M) driven by the wool price.
Both the Protective films and Interlining divisions were negatively impacted by the current turmoil with top-line growth of respectively +1.5% and +1.3% (7.7% and 8.1% in H1 while it was still +3.8% and +5.3% for 9M).
For FY11, the group now guides for operating income to reach €23.9m (+12.2% compared to the same period last year and ahead of the previous group’s target of €22.8m) while the net result should stand at €10m (stable compared to previous guidance but -22.5% compared to the 2010 figure which included a positive deferred tax effect).
Earnings figures are due to be released on 9 March.
As expected, activity in H2 was much more difficult for the group even though it succeeded in (slightly) improving its operating margin (from 4.16% in 2010 to 4.32% in 2011).
But we assume that the global deterioration of consumption in Europe since the summer (customers’ lack of confidence in this “troubled” environment), the increasing pressure on prices as well as the time lag between cost increases and the rise in selling prices and the fluctuations in costs will weigh on Chargeurs’s profitability for 2012.
No change at this stage as our figures already take into account our cautiousness for FY12.
