Result Presentation Q1 2005 PDF, 540 Kb »
FIRST-QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:
- Net sales grew to EUR 570.7 million (521.7)
- Operating income improved to EUR 46.4 million (-63.2)
- Order book at new record level EUR 2,066,9 million (1,656.2)
- Profitability of Power Businesses 6.0%
- Agreement on transfer of Imatra Steel to new steel company
- Service base expanded through acquisition of DEUTZ marine engine service business
- Profitability estimate for full year unchanged. Profitability improves towards end of year.
ADOPTION OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (IFRS)
Wärtsilä adopted IFRS reporting standards on 1 January 2005. The comparison figures in this interim report have been adjusted accordingly. The impacts of IFRS on the balance sheet and income statement are described in Wärtsilä’s stock exchange release dated 18 March 2005, which is also available on the company’s website, www.wartsila.com. IAS 39 (Financial Instruments) has been applied since 1 January 2005. Its impact at 1 January 2005 on shareholders’ equity was EUR 42.7 million from derivative financial instruments and EUR 141.5 million from assets available for sale. The impact at 31 March 2005 was EUR 22.4 million from derivative financial instruments and EUR 122.0 million from assets available for sale.
DEVELOPMENT OF GROUP STRUCTURE
In February Wärtsilä, Rautaruukki and the Swedish SKF signed a Memorandum of Understanding expressing their intention to combine their long-steel businesses into a new, jointly owned company. Wärtsilä’s subsidiary Imatra Steel will become a part of this company. Wärtsilä’s holding in the new company will be 26.5%.
STRATEGY – ACTIONS TO SUPPORT GROWTH
Wärtsilä’s strategic goal is to strengthen the leading positions of its Ship Power and Service businesses globally. This will be done by broadening the product range and developing alliances. In addition to organic growth Wärtsilä´s strong balance sheet enables the company also to grow through acquisitions within the bounds set by the solvency targets.
Wärtsilä’s Power Plant business continues to focus on the decentralized energy market and to develop in the growth sectors of these markets i.e. gas power plant markets.
During the first quarter Wärtsilä took several steps which support these strategic objectives:
In January a new, wholly owned subsidiary, Wärtsilä Propulsion (WUXI) Co Ltd, was established in China to produce thrusters. Thruster manufacturing will begin by mid-2005. In India it was decided to start producing marine reduction gears at the existing plant in Khopoli. The production will start at the end of current year. In January Wärtsilä also acquired a 12.5% holding in Aker Arctic Technology Inc., which provides marine engineering services for shipyards, shipowners and offshore companies interested in operating in icy waters.
In February Wärtsilä signed a letter of intent with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) to establish a 50/50-owned joint venture. The final agreement was signed on 21 April 2005. The intention is to start production of Wärtsilä Auxpac W20 diesel generating sets for the growing Chinese marine market and to sell these through Wärtsilä’s global network. The start-up of the new company is subject to regulatory approvals. Production is expected to begin in early 2006.
In March a marine service company was set up with the Estonian BLRT Grupp to serve the Baltic market. Wärtsilä owns 51% of this company, which is called Oü Ciserv BLRT Baltica.
At the end of March Wärtsilä closed the deal with the German company DEUTZ AG on the transfer of the DEUTZ marine engine service business to Wärtsilä. The agreement was signed in January. Wärtsilä began to provide service and OEM parts for these engines globally from 1 of April.
EVENTS AFTER THE REPORTING PERIOD
Wärtsilä’s manufacturing unit in France was sold to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) on 19 April 2005. MHI took over the production along with 70 Wärtsilä France employees. The transaction was part of Wärtsilä’s restructuring programme started in 2003. The transfer had no impact on the result.
A definite agreement was signed on 22 April 2005 on transferring Imatra Steel to a new steel company. The transfer is expected to be completed by 31 May 2005 subject to receiving the requisite regulatory approvals.
GROUP NET SALES AND RESULT
Wärtsilä’s consolidated net sales for the first quarter of the year totalled EUR 570.7 million (521.7), representing growth of 9.4%. The reason(s) behind the growth were increased sales of the Ship Power Solutions and Imatra Steel. Operating income rose to EUR 46.4 million having been EUR -63.2 million one year earlier. The earnings per share were EUR 0.33 (0.22). The result in the comparison period was burdened by a restructuring provision reported 2003, of which EUR 63.8 million was required by IFRS to be entered in the first quarter of 2004 because that was when the personnel negotiations related to the restructuring were completed.
FINANCING
Wärtsilä’s cash flow from operating activities was EUR 6.9 million (4.5). Capital was tied up in inventories due to an increase in business volumes in both the Power businesses and Imatra Steel.
Liquid funds reserves at the end of the period amounted to EUR 140.7 million (150.7). Net interest-bearing loan capital totalled EUR 270.7 million (281.0). The solvency ratio was 40.2% (36.8) and gearing was 0.28 (0.36).
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
Gross capital expenditure in the first quarter totalled in EUR 132.3 million (12.6), which comprised EUR 116.3 million in acquisitions and investments in securities and EUR 16.0 million (12.6) in production and information technology investments. Capital investments also includes EUR 0.5 million in capitalized emissions rights for Imatra Steel. Depreciation amounted to EUR 17.2 million (17.3).
The largest single investment was the acquisition on 31 March 2005 of the marine engine service business from DEUTZ AG. The investment value of this acquisition, including costs, was EUR 115.5 million which included inventories amounting to EUR 8 million. The remainder was allocated to intangible assets. The business was consolidated in the balance sheet on 31 March 2005.
ENGINE MANUFACTURING AND R&D
Wärtsilä’s goal with respect to its engine technology is to gain a leading position in the areas of environmental technology, reliability, economy and automation. Product development on new engines is proceeding according to plan. The company has achieved very good test results in its efforts to meet more stringent environmental regulations.
The manufacturing volume of the Trieste factory has been continued to expand and the manufacturing of the Wärtsilä 46 engine, transferred to Trieste from Turku, Finland, has proceeded at the same pace on average as earlier in Turku. Several other engine types are produced at Trieste as well.
Enhancements to the supplier chain have increased the flexibility to manage fluctuations in manufacturing load in both Vaasa and Trieste. The current order book will ensure that capacity utilization will remain good throughout the year and the beginning of 2006. Lively demand and increased raw material costs are also reflected in the components used in engine and propeller manufacture, and in the prices and availability of raw materials.
WÄRTSILÄ’S HOLDING IN ASSA ABLOY
Wärtsila’s holding in Assa Abloy AB (publ) has remained unchanged i.e. 4.7% of the company’s shares. The holding has been booked in the balance sheet at the market value of the end of the reporting period, EUR 188.9 million.
PERSONNEL
Wärtsilä Group had 12 231 (12 143) employees on average during the first quarter and 12 322 (12 152) at the end of March. The largest personnel increases took place in the Service business. Due to the close down of the Turku production, the personnel in Turku decreased with 359 people during the first quarter. The DEUTZ AG agreement added roughly 170 employees from the beginning of April.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The annual general meeting on 21 March 2005 approved the Board of Directors’ proposal to distribute an dividend of EUR 0.45 per share and an extra dividend of EUR 0.45 per share, i.e. a total dividend of EUR 0.90 per share.
The AGM confirmed the number of Board members to be seven and elected the following to the Board: Heikki Allonen, Göran J. Ehrnrooth, Risto Hautamäki, Jaakko Iloniemi, Antti Lagerroos, Bertel Langenskiöld and Matti Vuoria.
The AGM appointed the firm of authorized public accountants KPMG Oy Ab as the company’s auditors.
The AGM authorized the Board for one year to repurchase and dispose of the Company’s own Series A and B shares in proportion to the total number of shares in each series provided that the total nominal value of the shares so purchased, and the votes carried by these shares, shall not exceed five per cent (5%) of the company's total share capital and voting rights. This authorization has not been exercised during the reporting period.
Constitutive meeting of the Board of Directors
The Board elected Antti Lagerroos as its chairman and Göran J. Ehrnrooth as the deputy chairman. The Board decided to establish an Audit Committee and a Nomination and Compensation Committee. The Board appointed Antti Lagerroos chairman of the Audit Committee and its other members Heikki Allonen, Risto Hautamäki and Matti Vuoria. The Board appointed Antti Lagerroos chairman of the Nomination and Compensation Committee and its other members Göran J. Ehrnrooth and Jaakko Iloniemi.
OPTION SCHEMES
On 3 February 2005 Wärtsilä’s Board of Directors decided to include the 2001 options in the book-entry securities system. These options were admitted for trading on the Main List of the Helsinki Exchanges on 7 March 2005.
As a consequence of the bonus issue on 7 December 2004, each option entitles the holder to subscribe for three (3) Wärtsilä B shares with two (2) options. A total of 1,500,000 options have been issued and they may be exercised to subscribe for altogether 2,250,000 Wärtsilä B shares. Subscriptions based on these options may increase the share capital by at most 7,875,000 euros.
The decision of Wärtsilä’s annual general meeting to pay an extra dividend of 0.45 euros per share reduced the subscription price of the B share under Wärtsilä’s 2001 and 2002 stock option schemes by the amount of extra dividend,
as stipulated in the terms and conditions of these schemes. Hence the subscription price of shares based on the 2001 options is 16.70 euros per share and based on the 2002 options 9.50 euros per share.
MARKET OUTLOOK IN 2005
Shipyard capacities in Asia are almost full for the next few years and shipyards with spare capacity for 2008 will be filled up within the next half year. Due to this, also the order books of the European shipyards have grown. Demand for marine vessels has remained high despite a rise in prices. As a consequence of full shipyards in Asia Western European shipyards have received a considerable number of orders despite the strong euro. Western European shipyards are using eastern European yards as their subcontractors but recently the eastern European yards have also received orders for large, demanding vessels such as containerships and RoRo vessels.
Although there are no signs at present of a decline in ship orders, we still forecast, that a decrease in orders for new vessels can be expected in 2005–2006. The decrease will be due to the high capacity utilization of the shipyards.
The situation in the power plant market has continued to be good. Demand is distributed evenly, which is reducing dependency on single markets.
WÄRTSILÄ’S PROSPECTS IN 2005
Wärtsilä maintains its forecast for the Power Businesses for the year unchanged. Net sales of Power Businesses will rise 10-15% during 2005 based on the Group's strong order book. Profitability will vary from quarter to quarter, the first quarter being the weakest in the year. The profitability target set for the Power Businesses will be reached by the end of the year. The profitability target (EBITA) is above 8%.
Imatra Steel will become part of a new steel company by 31 May 2005. The start-up of the new company is subject to regulatory approvals. Wärtsilä´s holding in the new company will be 26.5% and it will be consolidated as an associated company for the first time in the second quarter of 2005.
BUSINESS REVIEW
POWER BUSINESS SEGMENT
Net sales of the Power Businesses rose 4.4% to EUR 483.8 million (463.3). Of this total, 28% was contributed by Ship Power, 49% by Service and 23% by Power Plants. The order intake of the Power businesses in the first quarter decreased to EUR 678.0 million (888.7). In the first quarter of 2004 Wärtsilä received from Iraq, the largest power plant order, EUR 360 million, in the company’s history. The order book of the Power Businesses at the end of the period stood at a record EUR 2,066.9 million (1,656.2), which was 24.8% higher than at the same time last year.
Operating income of the Power Businesses totalled EUR 29.3 million (-66.1). The profitability of the Power Businesses grew to 6.0 %. Comparable profitability in year 2004 was -0.5%.
SHIP POWER BUSINESS
Net sales of the Ship Power business rose 12.5% on the previous year to EUR 133.9 million (119.0). The shipbuilding market has shifted focus from large to smaller vessels, which is Wärtsiläs strongest market. The order intake continued a strong growth during the first quarter and it was 52.5 higher than last year. The order book at the close of the period stood at high level of EUR 974.0 million (675.9), which represents a growth of 44.1%.
Wärtsilä’s market share in the medium-speed main engine segment increased to 36% (27), while in auxiliary engines the market share was 10% (9) over the past 12 months which ended on 31st of March 2005. Wärtsilä’s market share in the low-speed main engine segment was 21% (20). The market shares have slightly increased since the year end of 2004. The increase was strongest in medium speed main engines due to the large orders for LNG vessels.
During the first quarter activity was especially lively in the offshore and cargo ship markets in Europe and in the feeder-container market in Asia.
Wärtsilä has gained a strong foothold in the LNG (liquified natural gas) market. At the end of March the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Korea placed an order for 24 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines. These will be installed in four LNG carriers ordered by AP Möller in Denmark and in two LNG carriers under construction for Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha in Japan.
The first order for the new Wärtsilä 46F engine, launched in September 2004, was received in March. The main orders for low-speed engines were the Sulzer 14RT-flex96C engines, the largest in the world in terms of output, ordered by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co Ltd.
Demand for propellers was brisk as well, and this was reflected in a number of significant orders. The joint-venture fixed pitch propeller company in China continued to develop well and a programme is underway for manufacturing larger propellers at the factory and expanding its capacity. The new thruster factory project in China is making planned progress and production there will start in June. This factory, wholly owned by Wärtsilä, will make LIPS thrusters for distribution worldwide. Wärtsilä decided to expand its range of marine reduction gears by starting to manufacture this product in India.
SERVICE BUSINESS
Net sales of the Service business increased to EUR 237.9 million (223.2), or 6.6% compared to last year. The acquisition of the DEUTZ AG marine engine service business, closed at the end of March didn't affect the sales of Service during the first quarter. The deal will increase Wärtslä´s active engine base by 12,500 MW, bringing the total to 148,000 MW.
Long-term service and O&M (Operations and Maintenance) contracts cover more than 12,200 MW, or 8.3% of the active engine base. Wärtsilä has O&M agreements covering 2,700 MW and 140 power plants, an increase of 17% on the same period last year.
The Service business will continue to grow by broadening its portfolio of maintenance and repair services. The Ciserv group is growing further following the establishment of a new Ciserv company in Estonia to serve the Baltic market. There are now ten Ciserv companies located at hubs along strategically important shipping routes.
Sales of spare parts and service for low-speed engines showed further growth. Demand also rose for power plant relocations, engine conversions to run on natural gas, and other services of a project nature.
POWER PLANTS BUSINESS
Net sales of the Power Plants business declined slightly to EUR 109.4 million (120.5.). The high order intake in the first quarter of 2004 compared with this years was due to the EUR 360 million power plant orders from Iraq, the largest in the company’s history. The biggest orders during the first quarter of 2005 were placed in Africa, Japan, India and Indonesia. The order book at the end of the first quarter was approximately 11% higher than in the comparison period.
On the growing gas power plant markets Wärtsilä’s gas power plant sales has further strengthened and during the first quarter Wärtsilä gained as many orders for gas power plants as for heavy fuel oil driven powerplants. The latter’s share of orders has previously been considerably higher.
The market situation remains good. Geograpically demand is distributed evenly, which is reducing dependency on single markets.
IMATRA STEEL BUSINESS SEGMENT
Imatra Steel’s net sales rose 48.8% compared to the same period last year. Demand for special steels remained buoyant and delivery volumes of both steels and forgings increased. The sales prices of the products were higher than last year as well.
Operating income was excellent and totalled EUR 17.1 million (2.9). The improvement in performance was attributable to the rise in sales prices and good productivity development.
Demand for the company’s products is expected to remain favourable during the months ahead.
3 May 2005
Wärtsilä Corporation
Board of Directors
The figures in this interim report are unaudited.
Wärtsilä Group’s interim financial statements for January-March 2005 are prepared according to IFRS. The accounting principles applied are the same as in the stock exchange release dated 18 March 2005, which described the impacts of the transfer to IFRS.
A teleconference on Q1 results will be held today Wednesday 4 May starting at 10.45 am Finnish time (8.45 am UK time) when the opportunity will be given to put questions to President and CEO Mr Ole Johansson and to Executive Vice President, Mr Raimo Lind.
To participate in the teleconference, please call +44 87000 13146, "Wärtsilä Q1 results" slightly before the starting time.
