The board of directors of Biesse spa – the company which operates in the market for machinery and systems for working wood, glass and stone – approved its preliminary financial statements for the financial period to last 31 December.
The consolidated results of Biesse Group for the full twelve-months of 2008 are as follows: consolidated net revenues of 454.3 million euros (-2.5 percent compared with the same period of 2007); added value of 167.5 million euros (-8.5 percent year-on-year), equal to a margin on revenues of 36.9 percent; Ebitda of 56.6 million euros (-28.5 percent year-on-year), equal to a margin on revenues of 12.5 percent; Ebit of 35.0 million euros (-46.4 percent year-on-year) equal to a margin on revenues of 7.7 percent; pre-tax profit of 31.3 million euros (-50.1 percent year-on-year), equal to a margin on revenues of 6.9 percent; net profit of 19.7 million euros (-52.6 percent year-on-year), equal to a margin on revenues of 4.3 percent.
At 31 December 2008, group net debt was 26.7 million euros, an increase of 4.3 million euros compared to 30 September 2008 and of 27.8 million euros compared to the end of 2007. The year-end 2008 figure was impacted not only by the continuous deterioration in the macro-economic scenario but also by extraordinary items that included 12 million euros of dividends and over 6.8 million euros for the share buy-back.
The current world economic and financial crisis has affected the wood working machinery sector. The negative trend in orders, which has characterized the sector since the start of 2008, peaked in the fourth quarter, affecting both the export and the domestic markets. The survey carried out by Acimall on the basis of a statistical sample representative of the whole sector, reveals a 38.8 percent decrease in orders. More in detail, export orders fell 39.2 percent whilst on the Italian market the decline was 37.8 percent.
