CARDO AB: Interim report, January – March 2003
The Rail business area was disposed of on September 25 2002 and is included in the consolidated financial statements for the previous year. The income statement and cash flow broken down by current operations and the operation disposed of are shown in enclosure 4.
The Group's inflow of orders amounted to SEK 1,887 million (2,664). Adjusted for the effects of exchange rate movements and the disposal of Rail, this is a decrease of 5 percent, which is entirely attributable to Cardo Door. Company acquisitions made a positive contribution of 1 percentage point.
Invoiced sales amounted to SEK 1,801 million (2,623). Adjusted for the effects of exchange rate movements and the disposal of Rail, this represents a decrease of 5 percent. Company acquisitions made a positive contribution of 1 percentage point.
Net earnings amounted to SEK 41 million (51), which is equivalent to SEK 1.35 (1.70) per share.
Current operations
After the disposal of the Rail business area, the Group's operations consist of the Cardo Door and Cardo Pump business areas.
Operating earnings in the current operations amounted to SEK 56
million (68). Pump's earnings were on a par with the previous year, while Door's were adversely affected by the weak state of the construction market in Europe.
Earnings after financial items amounted to SEK 58 million (59). The impact of exchange rate movements on earnings was only marginal.
Net earnings amounted to SEK 41 million (42), which is equivalent to SEK 1.35 (1.40) per share.
Cardo Pump
The inflow of orders was, after adjustment for the effects of exchange rate movements, on a par with the previous year.
In the water and wastewater segment, demand during the period was lower than the previous year, particularly as regards big wastewater pumps. Demand in the building services segment was on a
par with the previous year, while it increased from the process industry. In the USA, the market situation stabilized during the first quarter and demand was on a par with the corresponding period the previous year.
Invoiced sales amounted to SEK 648 million (722), which adjusted for the effects of exchange rate movements is 6 percent lower than the previous year. Operating earnings amounted to SEK 30 million (30).
Liquidity and financing
At March 31, the Group's liquid funds stood at SEK 922 million (219) compared with SEK 922 million at the beginning of the year. In addition, there are unutilized credit facilities of approximately SEK 3.0 billion (3.2).
Cash flow from operations was SEK 174 million (229) after tax, which is equivalent to SEK 5.80 (7.63) per share. Adjusted for the effects of exchange rate movements on the change in working capital, cash flow was SEK 5.67 (5.03) per share after tax. The
Group's gross investments, excluding company acquisitions, stood at SEK 79 million (65). The level of investment was higher than the previous year in consequence of the ongoing construction of a new production line for residential garage doors in Torslanda, Sweden.
Net liquid funds at March 31 amounted to SEK 681 million (-1,484) compared with SEK 593 million at the beginning of the year.
Equity amounted to SEK 3,925 million (3,497), which is equivalent to SEK 130.85 (116.56) per share.
The Group's equity ratio at March 31 was 65.3 percent (43.2).
After the end of the period, the Annual General Meeting declared a dividend totaling SEK 40.00 per share as proposed by the Board of Directors and the President. Payment was made on April 15. After the payment totaling SEK 1,200 million, the Group's equity ratio amounts to approximately 50 percent.
Personnel
The number of employees in the Group at March 31 was 6,097 (8,173).
Company acquisitions
As of January 2003, Cardo Door includes the acquired company SEA B2L, which has a turnover of approximately SEK 70 million.
Accounting principles
The report has been drawn up in accordance with recommendation RR 20 of the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council concerning interim reports. The accounting principles used are the same as in the annual report for 2002 except for the new recommendations of the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council effective as of January 1 2003. The application of the new recommendations has not given rise to any adjustment of previously reported periods.
The parent company
The parent company's earnings after financial items amounted to SEK 2 million (89), its gross investments to SEK 0 million (0) and its liquid funds to SEK 1 million (0) as against SEK 176 million at the beginning of the year.
Market prospects
There is still uncertainty about the market trend and no sign at present indicating imminent improvement. For Cardo's part, the uncertainty means continued focus on cost adjustment and
improvements in efficiency.
Enclosures (1. Invoiced sales, earnings and operating margin by business area;
2. Consolidated income statement and balance sheet in brief; 3. Consolidated cash flow statement in brief; 4. Income statement and cash flow broken down by current operations and operation disposed of; 5. Group financial summary)
can be downloaded from the following link: http://reports.huginonline.com/902132/117168.pdf
Cardo's interim report for January-June will be published on August
12 2003.
About Cardo
Cardo is an international engineering group and a leading supplier of high-quality products and systems with a good aftermarket. Cardo holds strong positions in the markets for doors and pumps. Cardo has subsidiaries in about 30 countries with the focal point resting in western Europe.
