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Thursday, 04 December 2008 12:11
Bertrandt increases revenues and earnings

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The Bertrandt Group again succeeded in raising its key financial figures in the 2007/2008 financial year.With an increase in revenues from EUR 339.5 million to EUR 434.2 million, the provider of development services to the international automotive and aviation industry continued its growth. Operating profit (EBIT) was up from EUR 32.3 million to EUR 51.3 million. Earnings after tax amounted to EUR 36.2 million on 30 September 2008, up from EUR 22.2 million one year earlier. For the first time in the history of the company, Bertrandt employed more than 6,000 people.

Bertrandt is growing in all areas of work
“We have successfully taken the company forward under demanding market conditions,” CEO Dietmar Bichler said during today’s presentation of the company’s annual financial results in Stuttgart. The success factors Bertrandt’s CEO mentioned were resolute focus on customer wishes, high process efficiency, tight cost and capacity management as well as committed staff. According to Bichler, it is impossible at the present time to make any reasonable assessment of how much impact the reported decrease in production output will have on future capital spending by the automotive industry. Provided that the economy stabilises and research & development expenditure remains at a high level, the CEO sees further good prospects for the engineering development services market on the basis of fundamentally intact market drivers such as increasing model diversity as well as technological and innovation pressure.

Proposed dividend increase
Based on the results generated, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board will make a proposal to the Annual General Meeting on 18 February 2009 to pay a significantly higher dividend of € 1.40 per dividend-entitled share (€ 0.80 in the previous year). With this amount Bertrandt will continue its policy of an attractive dividend and ensure that the company's shareholders participate in its success.

New jobs for Europe
Worldwide, Bertrandt employed 6,080 people on 30 September 2008. Compared with the previous year, the company created and filled more than 1,300 new jobs. “We increased our staffing in both the classic development areas and the specialist departments,” Bichler expounded. “This recruitment forms the basis for the company's growth.” Bertrandt relies on targeted personnel marketing to ensure that, despite the general shortage of engineers, promising applicants apply their knowledge and skills in service to Bertrandt’s customers. Our focus in selecting potential employees is on high process efficiency, quality assurance as well as soft skills.
 

Bertrandt's consolidates,
IAS-based financials
          

2007/2008   
2006/2007    
Revenues (EUR '000) 434,216 339,528
EBIT (EUR '000) 51,312 32,306
Earnings after income taves (EUR '000)     36,181 22,212
Free cash flow (EUR '000) 26,537 21,168
Equity ratio 45.9 % 44.3 %
Earnings per share (EUR) 3.57 2.20
Dividend (EUR) 1.40 0.80
Number of employees worldwirde 6,080 4,708