Nabaltec AG / Preliminary Results

05.03.2010 10:00

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- Revenues and earnings stabilize considerably in the second half of  2009
- 2009 revenues fall by 24.1%, to EUR 73.1 million; EBITDA down from  EUR
  9.3 million, to EUR 3.7 million
- US subsidiary, Nashtec, posts revenues in line with last year and 
  reports positive operating profit
- 2010 outlook: Revenue growth in the low double digits

Schwandorf, 5 March 2010 - Nabaltec AG finished an extremely challenging
2009 with clear improvements in the third and fourth quarters. After
falling sharply in the first and second quarters, revenues in the second
half of the year were up 20.8% from the first six months of 2009. The
fourth quarter was the strongest of the year in terms of total performance,
and the first in which revenues were up from the year before. The earnings
trend also turned around in the course of the year. Earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) turned positive in
the second quarter, and the third and fourth quarters finished with a
positive operating profit (EBIT), adjusted for one-time extraordinary
effects, and the trend is rising.

According to Gerhard Witzany, a member of the Nabaltec AG Management Board:
'The turnaround over the course of the year gives us confidence that we
have returned to a sustained growth track. If the market environment
develops in this direction, it will quickly become evident from our
revenues and earnings that our strategic decisions to build up our own
production in the US, to enter the additives market for plastics in 2009
and to open an entirely new target market with boehmite qualities developed
on our own for the electronics industry, were the right ones.'

According to preliminary data, Nabaltec Group's revenues fell by 24.1% in
2009, from EUR 96.3 million to EUR 73.1 million. Earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were EUR 3.7 million in 2009,
down from EUR 9.3 million the year before. In this case as well, results
stabilized considerably over the course of the year, as EBITDA in the
second half of the year were up 136.4% from the first six months.

Nabaltec Group's operating profit (EBIT) finished the year at EUR -2.7
million, down from EUR 4.1 million the year before. This number also
improved from quarter to quarter when viewed on a comparable basis, i.e.
taking into account that the fourth-quarter results were affected by
one-time extraordinary effects in the amount of EUR 1.3 million, resulting
primarily from transfers to pension provisions. After adjusting for these
extraordinary effects, EBIT improved in the course of the year from EUR
-2.0 million in the first half to EUR 0.6 million in the second half.
Consolidated earnings after adjusting for minority interests were EUR -5.0
million, down from EUR 1.1 million in 2008.

Playing an important part in Nabaltec's relatively stable course of
business compared to other companies in its industry, as well as its
second-half recovery, was the performance of its US subsidiary, Nashtec,
whose revenues 2009 held steady at 2008 levels. Accordingly, the decision
to introduce a second product quality in the US was proved right, as demand
and revenues have been better ever since. Nashtec has been cash-positive
since the first half of the year, and is now  break-even on an operating
basis and in its pre-tax results. With capacity utilization growing in the
second half of the year, Nashtec reached values which were deemed hardly
possible given the present conditions in the industry.

Nabaltec expects the company to return to its long-term growth track in all
areas in 2010. The goal is a revenue growth on low double-digit level and a
clear improvement in earnings over 2009, as well as a posting a break-even
operating result. Market conditions are right in all of Nabaltec's product
segments. For example, recent market studies project that the market for
halogen-free flame retardants, Nabaltec's highest-revenue segment, will
grow at an average rate of 8.1% a year through 2014. Nabaltec intends to
profit from this growth in flame retardants in several ways: by benefit
from the growth in the general market, by replacing the environmentally
harmful flame retardants which are still in use with halogen-free, i.e.
eco-friendly products and by taking market share away from its competitors
on the strength of its high-quality and innovative products. The market for
technical ceramics and refractory products depends primarily on global
steel production, and a clear stabilization is expected in 2010 after the
sometimes dramatic declines in 2009.


About Nabaltec AG
Nabaltec AG, with registered office in Schwandorf, a chemicals business
which has received multiple awards for innovativeness, manufactures,
develops and distributes highly specialized products based on aluminum
hydroxide ('ATH') and aluminum oxide, as well as other raw materials, on an
industrial scale through its 'Functional Fillers' and 'Technical Ceramics'
divisions. The company's product range includes flame-retardant fillers for
the plastics industry, used e.g. in cables in tunnels, airports, high-rise
buildings and electronic devices, as well as base materials for use in
technical ceramics, the refractory industry and catalysis. Unlike
halogenated flame-retardant fillers, the products manufactured by the
company's 'Functional Fillers' division contain no hazardous substances and
do not require separate disposal. Rather, the company's flame-retardant
fillers actually decrease the development of fumes hazardous to human
health and the environment in the event of fire. Nabaltec maintains
production sites in Germany and the US and plans to continue to consolidate
its market position by expanding capacity, further optimizing processes and
quality and making strategic extensions to its product range. On the
strength of its specialty products, the company strives to attain not just
the quality leadership, but also the market leadership in each segment.


Contact:
Heidi Wiendl
Nabaltec AG
Phone: +49 9431 53-202
Fax: +49 9431 53-260
E-mail: InvestorRelations@nabaltec.de 

Frank Ostermair
Better Orange IR & HV AG
Phone: +49 89 8896906-14
Fax: +49 89 8896906-66
E-mail: frank.ostermair@better-orange.de


05.03.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

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Language:     English
Company:      Nabaltec AG
              Alustraße 50-52
              92421 Schwandorf
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 9431 53-0
Fax:          +49 9431 53-260
E-mail:       info @nabaltec.de
Internet:     www.nabaltec.de
ISIN:         DE000A0KPPR7
WKN:          A0KPPR
Listed:       Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart; Entry
              Standard in Frankfurt
 
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
 
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