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Healthcare Company News 
Barco Barco confirms earlier trading update on 2008 results
Barco Barco confirms earlier trading update on 2008 results
Barco confirms earlier trading update on 2008 results
Thursday, 05 February 2009 19:00 | 
| Company News - Barco |
Barco announced results for the three- and twelve-month periods ended 31 December, 2008
Incoming orders booked in 4Q08 were at 203.9 million euro, up 11.1% compared to 4Q07. Sales declined to euro 207.9 million, down 6.6% compared to the same period of 2007. EBIT for the quarter was minus 24.2 million euro after restructuring and impairment provisions. Before the same provisions EBIT was minus 2.0 million euro.
Sales of continuing operations for the entire fiscal year 2008 were 725.3 million euro, down 1.5% to FY07, whereas incoming orders declined with 2.7% to 762.6 million euro in FY08. EBIT for FY08 was 8.9 million euro before restructuring and impairment charges, down almost 50 million euro from FY07. Restructuring and impairment charges booked amounted to 26.7 million euro.
Working capital was reduced with 35.8 million euro and net debt with 20 million euro to 32.8 million.
As previously announced the Board of Directors of Barco will propose to the Annual Shareholders’ meeting not to pay a dividend over 2008. Due to the global financial uncertainty and the company’s weak results Barco opted to pursue a conservative financial profile.
1 Following IFRS rules comparison must be made on the basis of “continuing operations”. This means that the results of the medical advanced visualization activities of the business unit Voxar are shown as a separate line (“results from discontinued operations”) and added to the net results of the continuing operations. All financial data appearing further in this announcement will be based on “continuing operations”, unless otherwise indicated. Barco divested Voxar to Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, in 1Q09.
Just as so many other companies Barco was confronted with a severe and sudden weakening of its businesses during the second half of FY08. This drop in revenues was particularly severe and abrupt in the corporate presentation and events segments as most of Barco’s customers put a complete stop on their marketing spending. Since these segments had historically been very strong contributors to the company’s profits, their sudden decline forced Barco to implement drastic cost reduction measures and to rethink its go-to-market strategies. As a result of all this, EBIT for the year fell sharply by almost 50 million euro.
Newly-appointed Barco CEO, Eric van Zele, commented: “The current economic environment prompted us to be decisive about preserving the long term financial and strategic health of the company. Substantial provisions of almost 27 million euro for cost reductions were booked and capitalisation rules for R&D expenses were tightened. We further embarked on a major effort to reduce working capital requirements and intend to continue to declare war on discretionary spending and all hidden costs related to lack of operational efficiency. We have narrowed our short term focus on liquidity and an improved cash position and realized a net debt reduction of 20 million euro by end 2008. Our focus in 2009 will remain on reducing net debt.”
In 2008 Barco also divested from non-core activities such as BarcoVision (bought by Itema of Italy) and the company’s maritime safety & security activities, which were sold to Thales of France. In 1Q09 Barco also closed the divestment of its Voxar business unit to Toshiba Medical Systems. Mr Van Zele added:” With these divestments and all other cost-reduction measures, we will have taken some 36 m euro of operating expenses out of the company to restore profitability even at reduced levels of revenues.”
Referring to Barco’s order book, which at the end of FY08 remained surprisingly healthy and was some 15% higher than at the end of FY07, Mr Van Zele said: ”This confirms that our traditional businesses in the Medical and Security & Monitoring divisions remain solid and steady. We are cautiously optimistic about their performance in FY09 although visibility remains rather poor.”
He added: ”Moving cautiously into what promises to be a very challenging FY09, we intend to continue to streamline our operations where necessary, improve our management systems and processes and move even more aggressively and creatively into new market niches where we can lead and generate growth.”
Source: http://www.barco.com
Incoming orders booked in 4Q08 were at 203.9 million euro, up 11.1% compared to 4Q07. Sales declined to euro 207.9 million, down 6.6% compared to the same period of 2007. EBIT for the quarter was minus 24.2 million euro after restructuring and impairment provisions. Before the same provisions EBIT was minus 2.0 million euro.
Sales of continuing operations for the entire fiscal year 2008 were 725.3 million euro, down 1.5% to FY07, whereas incoming orders declined with 2.7% to 762.6 million euro in FY08. EBIT for FY08 was 8.9 million euro before restructuring and impairment charges, down almost 50 million euro from FY07. Restructuring and impairment charges booked amounted to 26.7 million euro.
Working capital was reduced with 35.8 million euro and net debt with 20 million euro to 32.8 million.
As previously announced the Board of Directors of Barco will propose to the Annual Shareholders’ meeting not to pay a dividend over 2008. Due to the global financial uncertainty and the company’s weak results Barco opted to pursue a conservative financial profile.
1 Following IFRS rules comparison must be made on the basis of “continuing operations”. This means that the results of the medical advanced visualization activities of the business unit Voxar are shown as a separate line (“results from discontinued operations”) and added to the net results of the continuing operations. All financial data appearing further in this announcement will be based on “continuing operations”, unless otherwise indicated. Barco divested Voxar to Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, in 1Q09.
Just as so many other companies Barco was confronted with a severe and sudden weakening of its businesses during the second half of FY08. This drop in revenues was particularly severe and abrupt in the corporate presentation and events segments as most of Barco’s customers put a complete stop on their marketing spending. Since these segments had historically been very strong contributors to the company’s profits, their sudden decline forced Barco to implement drastic cost reduction measures and to rethink its go-to-market strategies. As a result of all this, EBIT for the year fell sharply by almost 50 million euro.
Newly-appointed Barco CEO, Eric van Zele, commented: “The current economic environment prompted us to be decisive about preserving the long term financial and strategic health of the company. Substantial provisions of almost 27 million euro for cost reductions were booked and capitalisation rules for R&D expenses were tightened. We further embarked on a major effort to reduce working capital requirements and intend to continue to declare war on discretionary spending and all hidden costs related to lack of operational efficiency. We have narrowed our short term focus on liquidity and an improved cash position and realized a net debt reduction of 20 million euro by end 2008. Our focus in 2009 will remain on reducing net debt.”
In 2008 Barco also divested from non-core activities such as BarcoVision (bought by Itema of Italy) and the company’s maritime safety & security activities, which were sold to Thales of France. In 1Q09 Barco also closed the divestment of its Voxar business unit to Toshiba Medical Systems. Mr Van Zele added:” With these divestments and all other cost-reduction measures, we will have taken some 36 m euro of operating expenses out of the company to restore profitability even at reduced levels of revenues.”
Referring to Barco’s order book, which at the end of FY08 remained surprisingly healthy and was some 15% higher than at the end of FY07, Mr Van Zele said: ”This confirms that our traditional businesses in the Medical and Security & Monitoring divisions remain solid and steady. We are cautiously optimistic about their performance in FY09 although visibility remains rather poor.”
He added: ”Moving cautiously into what promises to be a very challenging FY09, we intend to continue to streamline our operations where necessary, improve our management systems and processes and move even more aggressively and creatively into new market niches where we can lead and generate growth.”
Source: http://www.barco.com
