Looking at Gurit`s Composite Materials Business, demand in the Wind Energy business increased by 11.8% pulled by the markedly recovered Asian market. The ongoing technology change in wind blade production and the related lower demand for glass prepreg products could be fully compensated by stronger core material sales to Wind Energy customers and strong sales of carbon prepreg products to the American market. Material supply to other markets grew by 14.2% essentially due to strong deliveries to the Marine market, particularly in Europe. In total, net sales in the Composite Materials Business increased by 13% year-on-year from CHF 227.3 million in 2013 to CHF 256.7 million in 2014.
Gurit`s Composite Systems and Engineering Business continued to show growth. Net sales increased by 46.9% from CHF 53.8 million in 2013 to CHF 79.1 million in 2014. Improved output of automotive exterior components as well as higher order intakes in Tooling from the wind energy business uptake in Asia were the main drivers for this significant improvement in 2014. Sales in the Engineered Structures business grew by 28.7% from CHF 6.1 million in 2013 to CHF 7.9 million in 2014 driven by the growth in demand for bus components.
Net sales
|
Full year
|
Sales by quarter
|
in MCHF
|
2013
|
2014
|
Change in reported CHF
|
Change @ ytd 2014 transl.
|
Q1 2014
|
Q2 2014
|
Q3 2014
|
Q4 2014
|
Wind Energy
|
117,4
|
131,2
|
11.8%
|
11.4%
|
31,3
|
35,5
|
32,2
|
32,2
|
Other Material Markets
|
109,9
|
125,5
|
14.2%
|
13.9%
|
29,9
|
32,1
|
32,5
|
31,0
|
Composite Materials
|
227,3
|
256,7
|
13.0%
|
12.6%
|
61,2
|
67,6
|
64,7
|
63,2
|
Automotive
|
15,0
|
24,4
|
62.9%
|
56.8%
|
4,5
|
4,6
|
6,2
|
9,1
|
Tooling
|
32,7
|
46,8
|
42.9%
|
43.9%
|
11,1
|
14,0
|
10,9
|
10,7
|
Engineered Structures
|
6,1
|
7,9
|
28.7%
|
24.8%
|
2,0
|
2,0
|
1,9
|
2,0
|
Comp. Systems and Eng.
|
53,8
|
79,1
|
46.9%
|
45.4%
|
17,6
|
20,6
|
19,0
|
21,8
|
Total Group
|
281,1
|
335,8
|
19.4%
|
18.9%
|
78,8
|
88,2
|
83,7
|
85,0
|
Gurit estimates that the recent strengthening of the Swiss Franc compared to the average exchange rates 2014 will negatively impact the reported CHF value of its sales in 2015 by approximately 5 to 8% and the profit margins only by a minor degree as most of Gurit’s business activities are conducted outside of Switzerland. The impact on the 2015 balance sheet total in CHF is currently estimated at around 12% compared to year end 2014. The impact on the equity ratio is not expected to be significant.
Online publication of Annual Report 2014, Media/Analyst conference and international Webcast on Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Gurit will report its full 2014 results on March 17, 2015, by issuing a press release at 07.00 a.m. CET and publishing its Annual Report 2014 along with SHAPE, the Gurit Magazine, online at http://investors.gurit.com/publicationsdownloads.aspx. Management will also discuss the results in further detail at a joint media and analyst conference in Zurich on March 17, 2015, at 09:30 a.m. The conference will take place at SIX Swiss Exchange’s Convention Point, Selnau Strasse 30, CH-8021 Zurich. The presentations will be held in English and will also be accessible as a webcast on www.gurit.com where an archived version will later be available for download. Please sign up for the live event by returning the enclosed registration form.
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