31.03.2016
BayWa AG DE0005194062
DGAP-News: BayWa increases EBIT and dividend for 2015
DGAP-News: BayWa AG / Key word(s): Final Results
BayWa increases EBIT and dividend for 2015
31.03.2016 / 10:30
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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BayWa increases EBIT and dividend for 2015
Despite facing a second difficult agricultural year in a row in Germany,
Munich-based BayWa AG succeeded in improving its result year on year. In
2015, the BayWa Group generated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of
EUR158.1 million (2014: EUR152.1 million)*. The prices of raw materials hit
a multi-year low and led to a price-related decline in revenues. As a
result, revenues fell by 1.8 percent to EUR14.9 billion (2014: EUR15.2
billion).
The EBIT improvement in the financial year 2015 was due above all to an
exceptionally good result achieved in the German and international project
business for renewable energies as well as the continued
internationalisation of the Agriculture Segment. It was therefore possible
to offset the difficult development on the agricultural market in Germany
overall. "The share of BayWa's international agriculture and renewable
energies business in the Group's overall EBIT rose to more than 55 percent
in 2015," Chief Executive Officer Klaus Josef Lutz said, emphasising the
significance of the international trading and services group's growth
strategy.
"Lower producer prices, a lack of willingness to sell inventories, a lower
inclination among farmers in Germany to invest and increased logistics
costs due to low water levels caused by dry weather conditions
unfortunately prevented us from achieving an even better result last year.
Despite these adverse circumstances, we turned in a good performance," Lutz
said, summarising the past financial year before looking ahead.
In particular, the company is focusing on high global harvest expectations,
in connection with its trading activities, which it expanded last year. In
the context of this expansion, the company opened offices in Argentina and
Ukraine, for example. It also acquired the Romanian agricultural trader
Patberg International S.R.L, Wessex Grain Ltd. and, in early 2016, the
malting barley trader Evergrain Germany GmbH & Co. KG. "We want to once
again expand the trading volume for grain and oilseed − which amounted to
over 30 million tonnes in 2015 − in the current year," Lutz said. He noted
that the fruit business unit would also continue to grow, as BayWa recently
expanded its range with tropical fruits for the German food retail industry
through the acquisition of TFC Holland B.V. in the Netherlands.
"On the whole, we are cautiously optimistic about the current year. But due
to the low prices of raw materials, which continue to persist around the
globe, and difficult and volatile agricultural markets, we know that it
will be a major challenge to continue increasing our earnings in 2016 as
well. Through diversification and targeted growth into international
markets for agriculture as well as renewable energies, we believe that we
are well equipped to tackle this challenge," Klaus Josef Lutz said.
As part of a continuous dividend increase, the Board of Management and the
Supervisory Board will propose raising the dividend from EUR0.80 to EUR0.85
per share.
Agriculture: more grain traded - fruit sees clear EBIT increase
Revenues for the Agriculture Segment amounted to EUR10.2 billion in the
financial year 2015 (2014: EUR10.1 billion). EBIT came to EUR87.2 million
(2014: EUR107.8 million)*.
The Agriculture Segment's lower year-on-year EBIT is due in particular to
the development of BayWa's agricultural trade, which suffered from the
difficult market conditions in Germany. Revenues in the Agricultural Trade
business unit rose to EUR8.3 billion (2014: EUR8.2 billion), which is
mainly due to the fact that the Group's international agricultural trading
companies managed to significantly increase their grain trading volumes.
Lower amounts of corn collected, a lack of grain-drying revenues due to a
summer of low rainfall in Germany and a sharp drop in prices for
agricultural produce had a counteracting effect. The decline in prices and
low-flow surcharges on account of the low water levels of rivers, coupled
with correspondingly high logistics costs, had a considerably negative
impact on earnings in agricultural trade. As a result, EBIT amounted to
EUR41.6 million (2014: EUR64.9 million)*.
In 2015, the BayWa Group's fruit trading activities experienced very
positive development, generating revenues of EUR567.4 million (2014:
EUR563.9 million) and increasing EBIT considerably to EUR27.0 million
(2014: EUR20.6 million)*. This earnings growth was due primarily to the
marketing of the record apple harvest in New Zealand and the contribution
to the results from the business activities of Apollo Apples Limited,
acquired in New Zealand in late 2014.
While the area of agricultural equipment at BayWa recorded development that
was significantly better than the market trend overall, it was unable to
fully match the figures achieved in 2014. In the financial year 2015,
revenues totalled EUR1.26 billion (2014: EUR1.31 billion). EBIT amounted to
EUR21.5 million (2014: EUR22.3 million)*. The reason for this was a lower
propensity among farmers to invest due to lower producer prices. The
service and repair business continued to develop very well thanks to the
high sales figures in previous years.
The newly established Digital Farming business unit − which primarily
includes the business activities of PC-Agrar GmbH, acquired in April 2015,
and its subsidiaries − generated revenues of EUR5.2 million. Due to
start-up costs and investments in future growth, EBIT amounted to EUR−2.9
million. One focus for the Digital Farming business unit is farm
management. BayWa aims to expand its leading role as a professional partner
for agriculture where farm management is concerned.
Energy: exceptionally good result
The Energy Segment generated revenues of EUR3.3 billion in the financial
year 2015 (2014: EUR3.5 billion). This decline in revenues is due solely to
the extremely low oil prices in 2015. EBIT increased considerably to
EUR77.2 million (2014: EUR42.3 million). The exceptional development of
business in the Energy Segment resulted in particular from the successful
sales of wind and solar projects both in Germany and abroad, as well as
from higher sales of heating oil and fuels and lubricants.
In the conventional energy business, revenues dropped as a result of price
factors to EUR2.2 billion (2014: EUR2.7 billion). Since consumers took
advantage of the lower heating oil prices to fill their tanks, and since
the fuels business continued to develop positively and the lubricants
business outperformed the market trend, EBIT rose to EUR15.4 million (2014:
EUR5.7 million).
Thanks to the international focus of the Renewable Energies business,
revenues succeeded in passing the billion-euro mark for the first time in
2015 and totalled EUR1.02 billion (2014: EUR786.2 million). EBIT saw a very
substantial improvement, rising to EUR61.8 million (2014: EUR36.5 million).
The sale of completed wind energy plants and photovoltaic plants as
provided for in the business model proved to be an earnings driver. Wind
energy plants with an output of more than 164 megawatts (MW) altogether
were sold in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and the United States. In
terms of solar energy, the output of the plants sold in the United Kingdom,
Spain and the United States amounted to 123 MW. In the case of most plants
sold, BayWa is responsible for their complete operational management and
maintenance even after the sale. BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH, which
conducts the renewable energy business within the BayWa Group, is well
positioned for the future: In Germany alone, it acquired the rights last
year to build wind farms with a total output of more than 370 MW. In
addition, it will continue to pursue a policy of internationalisation and
prepare for its entry into the market in South East Asia.
Stable result in the Building Materials
In terms of building materials, the first several months of the financial
year 2015 were marked by unfavourable weather conditions. As a result, the
construction business only managed to gather momentum after Easter. Due to
the increased presence of foreign producers on the German market, the
prices for building and insulating materials came under pressure during the
reporting year. Revenues therefore decreased in the past financial year to
EUR1.5 billion (2014: EUR1.52 billion), even though the building materials
trade managed to generate higher sales overall. Owing to the continued
optimisation of the network of locations and further structural measures,
EBIT fell only slightly to EUR27.4 million (2014: EUR28.0 million)*.
* Previous year's EBIT figure adjusted, mainly for effects from the
accounting of a finance leasing in the financial year 2013 and the early
application of a new IFRS standard.
Contact:
Marion Danneboom, BayWa AG, Head of PR/Corporate Communications,
tel. +49 (0)89/92 22-36 80, Fax +49 (0)89/92 22-36 98,
e-mail: [email protected]
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31.03.2016 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Language: English
Company: BayWa AG
Arabellastraße 4
81925 München
Germany
Phone: 089/ 9222-3691
Fax: 089/ 9222-3698
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.baywa.de
ISIN: DE0005194062, DE0005194005,
WKN: 519406, 519400,
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Munich;
Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf,
Hamburg, Hanover, Stuttgart; Terminbörse EUREX
End of News DGAP News Service
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