6-Month Report - EANS-News: Hoeft & Wessel Steps up Sales Revenues by 11 per Cent in First Half of 2011

HANNOVER, Germany, August 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Focus on Further Internationalisation

In the first six months of 2011, the Hoeft & Wessel Group increased its sales revenues by 11 per cent, to reach EUR 43.4 million (2010: EUR 39.1 million). Ticketing and check-in systems as well as mobile terminals contributed a disproportionately large 30 per cent share of sales revenue growth.

In the first half of 2011, Hoeft & Wessel supplied ticket vending machines to  public transport operators in Geneva and in two Spanish cities. Mobile data capturing devices were delivered to the Rewe supermarket chain and to convenience wholesaler Lekkerland. The UK subsidiary Metric installed car parking ticket machines in the Scottish city of Aberdeen and exported parking machines to Malaysia.

The international business of this IT and engineering technology Group for ticketing, parking and mobile solutions is gaining increasing importance. In the first half of 2011, almost 60 per cent of sales revenues were generated abroad. At present, the primary focus of international activities is on France and South America.

The operating result (EBIT) in the first half of 2011, at -EUR 1.3 million, turned out lower than in the previous year (2010: -EUR 0.9 million) since the Parking division was unable to make a contribution to EBIT due to temporarily lower sales revenues in the U.S.

In the wake of new orders placed, such as from eastern Europe for ticket vending machines and check-in terminals, from the U.S. for car parking ticket machines and from Switzerland for mobile terminals, the order intake in the first half of 2011 reached a volume of EUR 32.8 million (previous year: EUR 48.1 million). The order portfolio as at 30/06/2011 stood at EUR 51.4 million (31/12/2010: EUR 61.9 million).

For 2011 as a whole, the Hoeft & Wessel Group anticipates a slight increase in sales revenues to more than EUR 96 million and an operating result (EBIT) of about EUR 3 million. This presupposes that projects will be finalised on schedule and that the partnership distribution network will continue to successfully expand as planned.

  
    Key Financials of Hoeft & Wessel Group
  
    in EUR thousands        30/06/11  30/06/10  30/06/09  30/06/08  30/06/07
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sales revenues           43,358     39,124    47,104    42,502   42,536
    Operating result before
    deprec./amort. (EBITDA)   1,560      1,589     3,833     3,216    2,653
    Operating result (EBIT)  (1,303)      (863)    1,569       941      312
     in % of sales revenues       -          -       3.3       2.2      0.7
    Earnings before taxes
    (EBT)                    (1.753)    (1.315)    1.108       231     (347)
    in % of sales revenues        -          -       2.4       0.6        -
    Group earnings           (1,512)    (1,544)      741       174     (511)
    Earnings per share in EUR (0.18)     (0.18)     0.09      0.02    (0.06)
    Dividend in EUR            0.10       0.08         -         -        -
    Operating cash flow      (4,401)     3,824    (1,578)   (2,353)    (542)
    Employees                   506        499       499       502      502

IR website with Half-Year Report 2011: http://www.hoeft-wessel.com/en/investor-relations/current-financial-reports/

Press kit with photos: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/12945/hoeft_wessel_ag/

The Company Hoeft & Wessel is the leading IT and engineering technology Group for ticketing, parking and mobile solutions in Germany and Great Britain. Established in 1978 by the two entrepreneurs who gave the company its name and listed on the stock market since 1998 (ISIN DE0006011000), the enterprise has developed into a group of companies with sales revenues of nearly EUR 100 million and a workforce of 500 employees. Its main locations are Hannover, Germany, and Swindon, UK, to the west of London.

The annual investment volume in the Research & Development division, which sets the pace in the Group´s technological orientation and employs more than a third of the total workforce, amounts to approximately 10 per cent in terms of turnover. According to the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, Hoeft & Wessel ranks amongst the top companies in Europe.

Further inquiry note:
Arnd Fritzemeier
Tel: +49-511-6102-300
E-Mail: [email protected]

Company: Höft & Wessel AG
Rotenburger Str.  20
D-30659 Hannover

Phone: +49-511-6102-0
Fax:   +49-511-6102-411
Mail: [email protected]
www: http://www.hoeft-wessel.com/

sector: Technology
ISIN: DE0006011000
indexes: Prime All Share, Technology All Share
stockmarkets: regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt, free trade: Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Hannover, München
language: English

SOURCE Hoeft & Wessel AG