Nabaltec AG / Final Results/Quarter Results

28.04.2010 10:00

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Nabaltec AG: Financials for first quarter of 2010 (preliminary) and
financial year 2009

- Good start in 2010 with 50% gain in revenues in first quarter and
positive operating result
- Nabaltec confirms 2009 preliminary figures with revenues of EUR 73.1
million and an operating result of EUR -2.7 million
- Clear improvement in both business divisions continues 

Schwandorf, 28 April 2010 - In the first quarter of 2010 Nabaltec AG
sustained the clear turnaround from the second half of 2009, boosting the
pace of recovery. According to preliminary figures, revenues across the
Group increased in the first three months by 50% to around EUR 24.4 million
after EUR 16.3 million in the same quarter from the previous year. The
effect of the previous year's weak quarter should be kept in mind in this
comparison. According to preliminary figures, Nabaltec also returned to
profit in terms of the operating result. EBIT in the first quarter of 2010
was EUR 0.9 million, while a loss of EUR 1.8 million had been incurred in
the same quarter from the previous year. Revenues in March, the best
monthly revenues in Q1/2010, provide another indication of the potential
sustained nature of this turnaround.

Both business divisions are contributing to the upward trend. The gain in
the 'Functional Fillers' business division (around 57%) was slightly
stronger than that in 'Technical Ceramics' (approx. 37%), though
'Functional Fillers' also benefitted from a somewhat different course of
business in the same quarter from the previous year. In the US, the Nashtec
subsidiary maintained the more stable performance already registered in
2009 with a clear increase in output. Nashtec is meanwhile producing at
near full capacity. The revenue gain in fine-precipitated hydroxide in the
US is supported by a competitor's announcement that it would discontinue
production of fine-precipitated hydroxide in the US over the course of the
year.

With the presentation of the 2009 financial statements, Nabaltec AG can
today also confirm the preliminary figures and report revenues of EUR 73.1
million (previous year: EUR 96.3 million) and EBIT of EUR -2.7 million
(previous year: EUR 4.1 million) for 2009. The 2009 financials still show
clear traces of the global economic crisis and the tough trends in many of
Nabaltec's target industries, such as the cable & wire, insulation,
polishing, refractory and steel industries. Nevertheless, Nabaltec
succeeded in generating positive cash flow of EUR 4.6 million in 2009. The
investment program progressed on a scale of around EUR 20 million in 2009,
concluding with the commissioning of the new additive production facility
in Schwandorf at the end of 2009. With the introduction of additives for
the plastics industry and boehmites for the electronics industry, Nabaltec
developed two new additional markets for the future.

Clear upward trends in revenues and earnings were already evident in the
second half of 2009 at the Group level and in the 'Functional Fillers' and
'Technical Ceramics' business divisions. Consolidated revenues in the
second half of 2009 were 20.8% higher than in the first six months. In
terms of EBIT, Nabaltec returned to the profit threshold - adjusted for
special effects in the second half - even though the operating result in
the year as a whole remained sharply negative at EUR -2.7 million.

The US subsidiary Nashtec successfully bucked the general economic and
industry trends in 2009, the US and Asian markets being the first to show
signs of a slow recovery. In both regions, revenues were already performing
again at a high level as of the second quarter of 2009. As a result,
Nashtec registered positive performance in 2009, playing a key role in
increasing the US share in Nabaltec's revenues mix from 8.1 to 10.7%.
Nashtec has been cash positive since the first half of 2009, and has
reached break-even in operative terms. With increasing utilization of
capacity in the second half of 2009, Nashtec attained figures hardly
thought possible in light of the industry environment.

In 2008 and 2009 Nabaltec also carried out comprehensive cost-cutting and
other measures to render capacities and production processes more flexible.
The rate of material costs in total performance was reduced in 2009 by 3.8
percentage points, in large part due to more favorable energy prices in the
United States. At 48.0%, the gross profit margin in 2009 was higher than
the same figure from the previous year (44.8%). In absolute terms, gross
profit decreased from EUR 45.1 to 34.3 million. Personnel expenses were
lowered by a total of EUR 2.4 million, though extraordinary additions to
pension reserves in the fourth quarter of 2009 reduced the annual savings
in personnel expenses to EUR 1.5 million. At the same time, the headcount
increased slightly by two persons from 347 to 349 in 2009. Other operating
expenses decreased from EUR 18.6 to 15.0 million. Nabaltec also realized
savings in third-party services of EUR 1.8 million.

The Nabaltec Group closed 2009 with a consolidated result (after
non-controlling interests) of EUR -5.0 million, after EUR 1.1 million in
the previous year. Earnings per share thus amounted to EUR -0.63 (previous
year: EUR 0.14).

Nabaltec expects the company to return to its long-term growth track in
2010, both at the Group level and in the two business divisions. The
company's goal is to attain revenues growth in the low two-digit percentage
range and to sharply improve earnings over 2009, with the perspective of
achieving a balanced result at the operative level. Market conditions are
right in all of Nabaltec's product segments. New market studies by Frost &
Sullivan, for example, forecast market growth for halogen-free flame
retardants - Nabaltec's strongest revenues segment - of 8.1% a year through
2014. Nabaltec plans to profit from this growth in flame retardants in
several ways: by taking advantage of the growth forecast for the general
market, by replacing the environmentally harmful flame retardants still
being used with eco-friendly products, and by taking market share away form
its competitors on the strength of its high quality and innovative
products. After we have seen a clear stabilization we also anticipate a
moderate growth in the market for technical ceramics and refractory
products in 2010, as global steel production, a key indirect target
segment, is showing clear signs of recovery.


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 halogen-free flame
retardant fillers and eco-friendly additives for the plastics industry.
Flame retardant fillers are used e.g. in cables in tunnels, airports,
high-rise buildings and electronic devices, while additives replace
stabilizers containing heavy metals in PVC processing. Nabaltec also
produces 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 




28.04.2010 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
 
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