April 7, 2006
Buhler Technology Group reports continued growth
Press release
The international Buhler Technology Group increased its consolidated sales by 3.2 percent to CHF1.5 billion (about US$1.161 billion) in fiscal 2005. Order bookings rose by 3.8 percent to CHF1.53 billion. The operating result (EBIT) was maintained at the previous year's level of CHF78 million, and net profits increased by 1.3 percent to CHF72 million.
Sales (turnover) of the Group continued to develop also in fiscal 2005, increasing by 3.2 percent over the year before to CHF1.502 billion. This growth was purely organic, exclusive of any influences of acquisitions. Order bookings increased by 3.8 percent to CHF1.535 billion, and the backlog of orders at the end of the year improved as well, by 4.6 percent to CHF690 million.
Sales in the Grain Processing division grew by 3.1 percent to CHF847 million. Growth in this division was highest in the Rice Technology business unit, which boosted its revenue by 65 percent to CHF39 million. The Grain Handling unit also experienced a sharp growth of 20 percent to CHF66 million. In a difficult market environment, Milling - the division's largest business unit - also grew, increasing sales by 2.5 percent to CHF499 million. In the Feed Technology unit, turnover diminished by 8.6 percent to CHF107 million.
The Engineered Products division grew by 5.8 percent to CHF463 million. The business unit with the sharpest growth here was Chocolate & Cocoa, which boosted its sales with the same number of employees by 20 percent over the previous year, to CHF180 million. Expressed as a percentage, the Pasta unit achieved the highest growth - by 23 percent to CHF103 million. As a result of high crude oil prices and fluctuating investment cycles, the other business units of the division were unable to generate any growth.
The die casting market suffered from the tense situation in the automotive engineering industry. Despite this hurdle, sales of the Die Casting division slipped by no more than 0.6 percent to CHF177 million compared with the previous record year, due to its good market position.
Meanwhile, the growth markets are shifting. Western Europe, which accounts for 32 percent of total sales, remains Buhler's largest market. However, in the year under review, sales revenue declined by 8 percent while increasing in Eastern Europe to 11 percent. The sharpest growth was achieved in the Middle East (57 percent) and in Africa (35 percent). Combined, these two regions already account for one fifth of Buhler Group's total sales. A volume of the same magnitude was generated in Asia. In China, sales were maintained at the level of a year ago, but with a significantly higher local manufacturing share. Here, as in India, Buhler expanded its production facilities. Also, the number of persons employed in these regions increased, whereas it tended to shrink in the traditional market regions.
Buhler plans to continue growth in the fields of food production, coating technology, and die casting. This is only possible on the basis of innovations. For this reason, research & development activities were intensified, with research spending increasing by 14 percent to CHF63 million. This effort resulted in 72 patents and a large number of market successes with innovative products.
With EBIT standing at CHF78.3 million with a margin of 5.2 percent, Buhler maintained the previous year's level (CHF79.0 million or 5.5 percent). Higher raw material prices prevented a better result. But an excellent financial result showed that Group profits increased by 1.3 percent to CHF72.1 million.
With its equity ratio continuing to rise to 46 percent (previous year at 43.8 percent) and its net liquidity standing at CHF264 million (+18.7 percent), the Buhler Group has a very sound balance sheet structure.
Due to its above-average backlog of orders of CHF690 million, Buhler got off to a good start into the current year. An open question is still the situation in the Middle East. But the Group's management is confident and expects to sustain the current high volume of orders, as well as to continue healthy development of the Group.
Buhler is a global technology group and a system partner for the supply of plants, equipment, and process know-how in the fields of food processing, chemical engineering and die casting, with some 6,200 employees worldwide.
|
Key figures: | |||
|
In million CHF |
2005 |
Change % from 2004 |
2004 * |
|
Sales (turnover) |
1,502.4 |
3.2 |
1,455.3 |
|
Order bookings |
1,534.6 |
3.8 |
1477.9 |
|
Backlog of orders as of Dec 31 |
689.6 |
4.6 |
659.6 |
|
| |||
|
EBIT |
78.3 |
-0.9 |
79.0 |
|
EBIT margin (%) |
5.2 |
|
5.4 |
|
EBITDA |
109.2 |
-1.2 |
110.5 |
|
Annual profits |
72.1 |
1.3 |
71.2 |
|
Investments in tangible and intangible assets |
38.3 |
-18.5 |
47.0 |
|
R&D spending |
62.9 |
13.1 |
55.6 |
|
Balance sheet total |
1,542.6 |
8.1 |
1,427.2 |
|
Equity ratio (%) |
46.0 |
|
43.8 |
|
Return on equity (%) |
10.2 |
|
11.4 |
|
Number of employees as of Dec 31 |
6,374 |
3.6 |
6,152 |
|
| |||
| *In the year under review, the Buhler Group made an adjustment in determination of the percentage of completion of long-term manufacturing jobs. The previous year was also adjusted. | |||
Urs Buhler, Chairman of the Board (left), and Calvin Grieder,
Chief Executive Officer
The Buhler Group Management (from left to right): Beat
Häni, Achim Klotz, Stefan Scheiber, Andreas R. Herzog,
Calvin Grieder, Ulrich Baur, Hans Peter Kunz, Bruno Mendler
An extrusion system from Buhler - compact and installed
in a very tight space
