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| Dräger Group reports successful first half 2006 |
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- Order intake up 15.5 percent
- Revenues up 10.8 percent
- EBIT up 10.9 percent
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| Lübeck, August 10, 2006 – Lübeck-based Drägerwerk AG, a globally operating medical and safety technology group, continued its success story in the first half of fiscal year 2006, recording a further significant increase in revenues, order intake and EBIT. The Company maintains its positive outlook for 2006 as a whole. |
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| Chairman of the Executive Board, Stefan Dräger, puts this continued success down to the further expansion of the global sales structure, the ongoing drive to improve internal processes and the product portfolios of the two subgroups Dräger Medical and Dräger Safety, which are tailored to customer needs. |
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| H1/2006
| H1/2005
| Change
| Order intake |
€931.5 million |
€806.8 million |
15.5% |
| Revenues |
€819.6 million |
€739.9 million |
10.8% |
| EBIT before non-recurring expenses |
€52.8 million |
€47.6 million |
10.9% |
| EBIT margin |
6.4 % |
6.4% |
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| Net profit |
€21.6 million |
€17.9 million |
20.7% |
| Headcount as of June 30 |
9,887 |
9,649 |
2.5% |
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*The figures have not been audited. |
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| Both order intake and revenues saw double-digit growth in the first half of 2006. Order intake rose by 15.5 percent to EUR 931.5 million (H1/2005: EUR 806.8 million). The two subgroups Dräger Medical and Dräger Safety contributed equally to the Group’s strong performance. Revenues climbed 10.8 percent to EUR 819.6 million (H1/2005: EUR 739.9 million). A number of medical technology projects contributed to the growth in order intake and revenues. Growth was primarily generated in Europe excluding Germany (revenues up 12.7 percent to EUR 333.5 million) and the Americas (revenues up 19.2 percent to EUR 176.9 million). Despite conditions remaining difficult, order intake increased in Germany, with our home market developing particularly well for Dräger Safety. |
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| EBIT (before non-recurring expenses) increased 10.9 percent, up from EUR 47.6 million in the prior-year period to EUR 52.8 million. The gross margin dropped slightly to 48.5 percent (H1/2005: 49.8 percent), which was largely due to the completion of projects. Functional costs developed as planned. The research and development costs included in this figure came to EUR 58.5 million or 7.1 percent of revenues. |
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| The tax expense decreased against the prior-year period due to the change in legal form of Dräger Medical. Overall, the first half of the year saw net profit climb by 20.7 percent to EUR 21.6 million. |
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| The Dräger Group’s equity dropped slightly by EUR 14.0 million to EUR 488.8 million, which translates into an equity ratio of 31.4 percent. The change in equity is attributable, on the one hand, to net profit and, on the other, to the payment of dividends and the share in net profit of minority shareholders for the prior year. |
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Dräger Medical |
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- Double-digit growth in revenues and EBIT
- Dräger Medical continues to growth much faster than the market in 2006
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| The subgroup Dräger Medical closed the first half of 2006 with EBIT (before non-recurring expenses) of EUR 38.1 million. Compared to the prior year, this corresponds to an increase of 11.7 percent (H1/2005: EUR 34.1 million). At 6.8 percent, the EBIT margin was on a par with the prior-year period (H1/2005: 6.9 percent). Order intake rose by 17.3 percent from EUR 545.5 million in 2005 to the current EUR 639.9 million. Revenues rose by 13.7 percent to EUR 559.3 million (H1/2005: EUR 492.1 million). |
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| The Americas achieved the largest growth in order intake among the regions, recording 35.8 percent (to EUR 167.9 million). Revenues in this region grew 24.0 percent to EUR 133.8 million thanks to successful business at the still young subsidiaries in Canada, Mexico and Chile as well as the performance of the subsidiaries in Brazil and the US. Net of currency effects, order intake grew by 14.1 percent in the US. |
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| Order intake and revenues in Germany remained almost constant year on year (up 1.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively). Our home market continues to decrease in relative importance for Dräger Medical. Germany now only accounts for some 20 percent of global revenues compared with 23 percent in the prior-year period. This is mainly a reflection of a slowly shrinking domestic market. |
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| The rest of Europe continues to perform well. Order uptake is up 20.4 percent to EUR 243.4 million, while revenues climbed 18.6 percent from EUR 178.0 million to EUR 211.1 million. Behind this positive business performance is the successful sale of CareArea™ solutions with integrated patient monitoring. |
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| In Asia/Pacific, order intake dropped 1.8 percent to EUR 61.1 million and revenues by 2.4 percent to EUR 60.4 million. This is due to the fact that the Chinese market is showing weak growth in general due to limited investment as a result of current healthcare policies. Furthermore, order intake in the prior-year period in Japan and Australia was higher, partly due to the change in sales structure in Japan and partly due to a major order from the Australian government. |
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| Market success in the first half was driven by the excellent performance of patient monitoring business, especially combined with therapy units, across all regions. Strong demand for CareArea™ solutions was a key to business success, especially in the perioperative field. As a result, the subgroup further increased its overall share of the monitoring business. |
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| The progress made by the innovation campaign is evidenced by renewed high research and development expenditure of EUR 42.9 million, which corresponds to 7.7 percent of revenues. |
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Dräger Safety |
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- Strong first half in 2006 for order intake
- Subsidiaries perform well
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| In the first half of 2006, the subgroup Dräger Safety generated EBIT of EUR 23.9 million, up 9.1 percent on the prior year (H1/2005: EUR 21.9 million). The EBIT margin in the first half of 2006 was 8.7 percent vs. the comparable figure of 8.3 percent for the first six months of 2005. Order intake rose by 10.7 percent to EUR 307.5 million (H1/2005: EUR 277.7 million). Both core business and project business contributed to this growth. The global revenues of Dräger Safety rose in the first six months of 2006 by 4.4 percent to EUR 275.8 million (H1/2005: EUR 264.3 million). |
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| In the Americas, Dräger Safety increased order intake by 4.8 percent and revenues by 6.4 percent. In core business, the company was again able to fend off competition on the American market with its innovative products and services. |
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| Order intake in Germany climbed 9.9 percent to EUR 78.9 million in the first half of 2006. Despite the strained financial situation and the resulting tight rein on public spending as well as increased competition, revenues were maintained at the prior-year level at EUR 68.2 million. |
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| Business fared very well in Europe in the first six months of 2006, with order intake up 13.9 percent and revenues up 3.9 percent. The successful Dräger Alcotest 6510 is now also taking the European shipping market by storm. |
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| With order intake up 8.4 percent in the Asia/Pacific region, Dräger further expanded its market position there. Revenues were up 8.5 percent on the prior year. |
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| Research and development expenditure amounted to EUR 14.9 million or 5.4 percent of revenues (H1/2005: EUR 11.9 million or 4.5 percent of revenues) and was mainly incurred in the development of new products. |
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| If the market environment remains the same, Dräger expects revenue growth of seven to ten percent for Dräger Medical and three to five percent for Dräger Safety. Overall, the Dräger Group expects to achieve revenue growth of six to eight percent as well as a slightly greater increase in EBIT (before non-recurring expenses) and net profit. The subgroups also expect the increase in the operating result to be somewhat higher than revenue growth. |
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This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the development of the Dräger Group. No assurance can be given as to the content of these statements as they are based on assumptions and estimates that entail certain risks and uncertainties. |
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