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[August 2001]
Wienerberger Half-Year Results
Half-year results for the major brick, roofing and pipe group Wienerberger show building materials sales up 1% to 741 million euros. Overall sales for the group were down 11% at 746.4 million euros in the first half. This is, however, a consequence of the divestment of Treibacher Industrie AG, which generated 101.7 million euros of group sales in the comparable prior year period.
Wienerberger's building materials sales - as opposed to its real estate and other activities - generally showed positive trends. Segment results show brick sales in Central & Eastern Europe up 4%; bricks in Western Europe up 1%; bricks in the USA down 2%; and pipe and roofing investments up 2%.
During these six months, Wienerberger Group invested a total of 121.5 million euros, primarily in North and East Europe. The acquisition of the Optiroc facing brick plants enabled the group to enter markets in Scandinavia and Finland as the leader and represents an important step in the expansion of its facing brick activities in Europe. The integration of these new plants is said to have been successfully concluded and the group has been able to record positive, above-forecast results in these new markets.
Wienerberger's strategy is directed towards a quick and lasting improvement in earnings from the turnaround markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Especially in Germany, the most important market next to the USA, the group has already taken a number of steps to return to positive earnings as quickly as possible. Measures implemented to date are expected to generate cost savings and synergy effects in Central Europe of at least 20 million euros beginning in 2002.
The group considers the sales potential for facing bricks in the USA to be good over the mid to long-term. As soon as economic developments in the region are more certain, it says it will pursue further growth through the introduction of bolt-on products and suitable acquisitions.
ENDS