Al Ezz Gds Regs Regulatory News (AEZD)

17 Dec 2007 07:01

Al EZZ Steel Rebars S.A.E.17 December 2007 AL EZZ STEEL REBARS REPORTS CONSOLIDATED 3Q 2007 RESULTS • Net sales reached EGP 4.2bn • Gross profit of EGP 990mn in 3Q 2007 • EBITDA* at EGP 1.1bn in 3Q 2007 • Net profit before tax EGP 736mn in 3Q 2007 • Net profit after tax and minority interests EGP 291mn in 3Q 2007 • EPS of EGP 1.63 in 3Q 2007 • Net debt to equity 0.99x as at 30 September 2007 *EBITDA = sales - cost of goods sold - selling & marketing expense - G&Aexpense + depreciation and amortisation Cairo, 17 December 2007 - Al Ezz Steel Rebars S.A.E. ("Ezz Steel") (CASE: ESRS;London Stock Exchange: AEZD), the largest independent producer of steel in theMENA region and market leader in Egypt, today announced its consolidated 3Qresults for the period ending 30 September 2007. The audited results have beenprepared in accordance with Egyptian Accounting Standards. 3Q 2007 Sales:Sales ESR/ERM EZDK EFS Total (after inter-company EGP 000's eliminations) Long 1,191,424 1,517,404 - 2,707,529 Flat - 688,803 730,424 1,419,227 Others - 38,049 6,803 37,729 Total 1,191,424 2,244,256 737,227 4,164,485 YTD 2007 Sales:Sales ESR/ERM EZDK EFS Total (after inter-company EGP 000's eliminations) Long 3,364,493 4,384,024 - 7,746,131 Flat - 1,984,921 2,156,959 4,141,880 Others 1,262 222,414 13,236 104,703 Total 3,365,755 6,591,359 2,170,195 11,992,714 Net sales for the three months to 30 September 2007 reached EGP 4.2bn, up 2%from the strong second quarter 2007 result. When compared with the firstquarter of 2007, net sales were up 12%. Long steel products contributed 65% oftotal sales with flat steel products representing 34% of total sales for thequarter. The contributions of Ezz Steel, EZDK and EFS to net sales for theperiod ending 30 June 2007 were 29%, 54%, and 18% respectively. As in prior periods, domestic sales continue to comprise the majority of totalsales, 74%, with export sales accounting for 26% of total sales. The proportionof long product being exported remained at 8% of total long sales by value. Asin prior periods, exports to international markets accounted for the majority offlat products sales, as illustrated below: 3Q 2007: EGP 000's Domestic % Export % Flat 574,834 41% 844,393 59% Long 2,489,801 92% 217,728 8% 3Q Cost of Goods Sold: EGP 000's ESR/ERM EZDK EFS Ezz Steel ConsolidatedSales 1,191,424 2,244,256 737,227 4,164,485COGS 1,114,317 1,385,293 679,430 3,173,681COGS / Sales 94% 62% 92% 76% YTD Cost of Goods Sold: EGP 000's ESR/ERM EZDK EFS Ezz Steel ConsolidatedSales 3,365,755 6,591,359 2,170,195 11,992,714COGS 3,086,440 4,146,874 2,008,453 9,104,273COGS / Sales 92% 63% 93% 76% During the period under review, the Ezz Steel consolidated Cost of Goods Soldhas remained at 76% of Sales. Net profit after minority interests for the third quarter was EGP 291m. This hasdelivered EPS of EGP 1.63 per share, a 5.2% increase from EGP 1.55 per share in1Q 2007 on a weighted average number of shares basis. Comment Mr. Ahmed Ezz, Chairman and Managing Director of Ezz Steel, said: "We have worked hard during the period to continue to optimize our unique,state-of-the-art facilities and the diversity of our product range, maintainingour objective of increasing Ezz Steel's overall profitability despite thepressures that the industry is experiencing as a result of the rising costs." Divisional Overview Please note that the below mentioned overview reflects the 3Q 2007 performanceof each entity on a stand alone basis. 1Q 2007 2Q 2007 3Q 2007EZDKSales: Value: 2,117,733,602 2,229,369,698 2,244,255,933 Volume: 714,232 667,185 650,486Production Tonnes Long Products 432,600 431,457 452,297 Flat Products 147,951 210,899 207,304 DRI 679,030 688,943 702,958 Billets 457,061 485,599 460,440 Exports as % of Sales: 22.6% 21.0% 19.0% EBITDA 802,656,331 943,892,728 920,742,052ESR/ESMSales: Value: 1,067,674,039 1,106,656,271 1,191,424,420 Volume: 353,008 337,402 355,318Production Tonnes Long Products 339,761 332,484 346,969 Billets 208,037 192,371 197,784Exports as % of Sales 7% 9% 10% EBITDA 110,126,303 96,837,864 79,538,358EFSSales: Value: 658,756,841 774,211,170 737,226,599 Volume: 213,897 239,464 214,720Production Tonnes Flat Products 222,780 252,756 217,519Exports as % of Sales 72% 75% 68% EBITDA 75,360,761 72,331,966 75,928,956 Nb. Ezz Steel's ownership in EFS was increased during September 2007 from 59% to75%. Paste the following link into your web browser to download the PDF documentrelated to this announcement: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/0184k_-2007-12-16.pdf Enquiries:Ezz Steel Tel MobileKamel Galal + 20 2 3762 2144 + 20 10 539 5499 Capital MS&LClaire Maloney + 44 20 7307 5341 + 44 7770 958 479Jennifer Martin + 44 20 7307 5335 + 44 7841 401304 About Al-Ezz Steel Rebars Co. S.A.E. Al Ezz Steel Rebars (Ezz Steel) is the largest independent steel producer in theMiddle East and North Africa, with a total actual capacity of 5.3 million tonnesof finished steel per annum. It is the Egyptian market leader with over 65%market share in terms of sales. In the first nine months of 2007, it produced 2.3 million tonnes of longproducts (typically used in construction) and 1.3 million tonnes of flatproducts (typically used in consumer / industrial goods). Ezz Steel's customerbase is geographically diversified, with flat products mainly directed to exportmarkets, whereas long products are typically sold in the domestic market. Morethan 70% of Ezz Steel's plants are less than 10 years old using the latest inmodern steel making technology. Disclaimer: This press release is issued by Al Ezz Steel Rebars S.A.E. ("Ezz Steel" or the "Company"), in connection with the disclosure of the Company's financials resultsfor the 9 months ended 30 September 2007. This document includesforward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include allmatters that are not historical facts. In particular, the statements regardingthe Company's strategy, the expected strength of demand for long products inEgypt and in regional markets and for flat steel in the international markets,and other future events or prospects are forward-looking statements. Recipientsof this document should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statementsbecause they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factorsthat are in many cases beyond the control of the Company. By their nature,forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relateto events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and theCompany's actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, andthe development of the industry in which the Company operates may differmaterially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statementscontained in this document. The cautionary statements set forth above should beconsidered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-lookingstatements that the Company, or persons acting on its behalf, may issue.Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from thoseexpressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this documentincluding worldwide economic trends, global and regional trends in the steelindustry, the economic and political climate of Egypt and the Middle East andchanges in business strategy of the Company and various other factors. Theseforward-looking statements reflect the Company's judgment at the date of thisdocument and are not intended to give any assurances as to future results. TheCompany undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, andit will not publicly release any revisions it may make to these forward-lookingstatements that may result from events or circumstances arising after the dateof this document. None of Ezz Steel, or any of its directors, officers oremployees or any other person can give any assurance regarding the futureaccuracy of the information set forth herein or as to the actual occurrence ofany predicted developments nor shall assume, and each of Ezz Steel, any of itsdirectors, officers or employees or any other person expressly disclaims, anyobligation, except as required by law, the listing rules of the CASE or the LSEor the FSA, to update any forward-looking statements or to conform theseforward-looking statements to Ezz Steel's actual results. By accepting any copy of this document, you agree to be bound by the foregoinglimitations and restrictions. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange