Results for the 2005 Financial Year, Proposals for the General Meeting

 

Special factors burden profit of Orell Füssli

Increase of turnover of 5% – High capacity utilization in security printing at less favourable prices and production problems – Growth and cleaning of balance sheet at Atlantic Zeiser – Refurbishment of stores and online bookshop, hesitating demand at book retailing – Positive development in publishing

In 2005 the Orell Füssli Group with its five divisions increased its turnover by 5% compared to previous year to a figure of CHF 337 million. Due to special factors the annual profits decreased by 38% to CHF 14.9 million.

 

The industry-oriented business of Atlantic Zeiser improved order intake, turnover and profits significantly compared to the previous year. However, the net income was substantially burdened by the re-assessment of some assets and deferred expenses. Thanks to internal projects the organization was improved and the division newly positioned. The reorganization will be completed in the year 2006.

Security printing was well charged with workload, at a less favourable mix of prices than in the previous year. For the first time, OF security printing produced at a large scale banknotes on polymer substrate instead of paper. This innovative application created unexpected problems in the production process which handicapped the output. In the meantime, those problems have been overcome and the processes are running efficiently. With book retailing demand was low in the first semester. Additionally, selling activity was negatively influenced by refurbishment projects at many sites. The refurbished outlets, a new webshop www.books.ch and a completely new ERP system will be the basis for future dynamic growth. The publishing segment improved its result in spite of a lower turnover. This was mainly due to the Teledata business.

 

Due to the demands of the Swiss stock exchange Orell Füssli had to change its accounting standards to IFRS, which required additional efforts and substantial costs. For the change from FER to IFRS also the financial data of 2004 and corresponding initial balance sheets had to be restated. As far as profit is concerned, the change had no material influence. But in the balance sheet the reclassifications due to IFRS showed many shifts in the restated figures. In comparison to the provisional figures, which were published on 14^th February, 2006 reclassifications resulted in the audited figures with minor changes, for the year 2005 mainly because of the reclassification of currency hedging due to IAS 39 and for the year 2004 because of a re-evaluation of negative goodwill due to a former acquisition.

 

 

Consolidated Figures

 

CHF million	2005 IFRS		2004 IFRS		%	2004
						FER
Turnover	337.4   28.4   14.9		322.8   39.2   24.1		+ 5 - 28 - 38	325.5
Operating result EBIT						39.2
Annual profits						23.2

 

 

Proposals for the General Meeting 

The Board is proposing that the General Meeting on 10^th May, 2006 should pay a dividend of CHF 3.- per registered share. This corresponds to the dividend guidelines that roughly 1/3 of the profit will be paid to the shareholder. At a price per share of CHF 150.- this dividend corresponds to a return of 2%.

 

Outlook

The Orell Füssli Group expects over the running financial year a turnover in the range of the previous year and a substantial increase of the profits. The aim is to come back to the profitability of previous years.

 

Annual Report

The 2005 Annual Report will be published as of today’s date and may be obtained from the Management Secretary’s Office (Hanna Michel, Tel. +41 (0)44 466 72 73, E-mail Hanna.Michel@ofgb.ch). The Annual Report may also be viewed on the internet at  www.orellfuessli.ch.

 

 

As a strategic and financial holding, the traditional company of Orell Füssli combines the three independent business segments of security printing and industrial systems, book retailing and publishing and employs around 1000 members of staff.

Both in terms of technology and quality, the Security Printing and Industrial Systems segment is a leader in the security printing sector, in the development and manufacture of systems for security documents and for the individualisation of products and documents.  Orell Füssli holds a leading position in German-speaking Switzerland in the Book retailing sector, with 11 wholesale and specialist booksellers and thanks to its links with the Internet (www.books.ch). The Publishing segment includes not only specialist book publishers (Orell Füssli, io, Offizin, pro juventute, Atlantis, Rentsch, Scola, Photoglob) but also extensive on-line databases containing company and personal information relating to the Swiss economy (www.teledata.ch, www.kompass.ch, various specialized CDs).

 

Information

Dr. Klaus Oesch
CEO
Tel +41 (0)44 466 72 73
E-mail    investor-relations[at]ofgb.ch

 

Distributed to the press by fax/e-mail:
07.00 am, Tuesday 11^th April, 2006

Press conference (balance sheet) at the company’s head office  (Conference Centre):
09.00 am, Tuesday, 11^th April, 2006

Financial analysts’ conference at the company’s head office  (Conference Centre) :
10.30 am, Tuesday, 11^th April 2006

General Meeting at the company’s head office  (Conference Centre) 03.30 pm, Wednesday, 10^th May, 2006

 

 

The 2005 Annual Report may be downloaded from www.orellfuessli.ch with effect from 11.00 am, 11^th April 2006.