BolsWessanen Announces 1998 Midyear Results.AMSTELVEEN Amstelveen (äm`stəlvān), town (1994 pop. 74,059), North Holland prov., W Netherlands, a suburb of Amsterdam. Amstelveen has light industry and agriculture. Schiphol international airport is there. , The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1998--The Executive Board of Koninklijke BolsWessanen nv, the international food and beverages F&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage," which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods. group, today announced its midyear mid·year n. 1. The middle of the calendar or academic year. 2. a. An examination given in the middle of a school year. b. midyears A series of such examinations. results. In first half of 1998 net income from ordinary activities amounted to NLG NLG The ISO 4217 currency code for the Dutch Guilder. 65.4 million ($32.1 million(a)) against NLG 79.8 million last year, a decrease of 18.0%. We announced this disappointing development in our press release of June 17, 1998. Prior to discussing the measures required, as stated in the outlook below, we first give the midyear results. Based on the number of shares outstanding as per June 30, 1998, earnings per share from ordinary activities in first half 1998 amounted to NLG 0.76 ($0.37) (1997: NLG 0.94). Net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight in first half 1998 increased by 12.2% from NLG 2,655 million to NLG 2,978 million ($1,461 million). At stable exchange rates this increase would have been 7.2%. Net sales grew autonomously by 3.3%. The results of the wine operations in France have been consolidated up to and including April 1998. The Thai joint venture is consolidated for the first time. Operating results decreased by 19.0% from NLG 117.8 million to NLG 95.4 million ($46.8 million). The main reason for this is the fact that the Asian crisis is hurting us more then we anticipated. As a consequence of that we faced negative operating results in Thailand of NLG 12.7 million in first half of 1998. The operating results of the dairy activities decreased by almost 10%, due to high raw material cost in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Europe and slightly lower cheese sales in Europe. The results of the Convenience Food and Cereals group decreased mainly as a consequence of the poor business developments in Thailand. Higher sales and margins improved the results of the cereals activities within this group. In the United States, the Natural & Specialty Foods group again showed growth both in sales and in operating results, also supported by acquisitions. Sales increased by 34%, while operating profit Operating profit (or loss) Revenue from a firm's regular activities less costs and expenses and before income deductions. operating profit See operating income. improved by 15%. The lower results of Spirits & Wines were caused by the divestment divestment to strip one's investment from an entity. of the wine activities at the end of April and by lower results in Spirits. At Campari business developed satisfactorily in first half 1998. The contribution to net income increased. Interest charges in first half 1998 increased to NLG 30.0 million ($14.7 million) (1997: NLG 21.5 million), mainly due to acquisition finance. The corporate tax rate increased to 49.4% (1997: 36.2%). The increase is almost fully attributable to the losses in Thailand which are as yet not tax deductible That which may be taken away or subtracted. In taxation, an item that may be subtracted from gross income or adjusted gross income in determining taxable income (e.g., interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain taxes). . Group equity as a percentage of balance sheet total amounted to 42.5% at June 30, 1998 (at the end of 1997: 40.8%). OUTLOOK Given this unsatisfactory result, today we are more than ever dedicated to solving the current problems and ensuring the return to future growth. At this point in time it appears that the dairy raw material prices, both in the United States and in Europe, will remain at higher levels than anticipated, forcing us to prioritize pri·or·i·tize v. pri·or·i·tized, pri·or·i·tiz·ing, pri·or·i·tiz·es Usage Problem v.tr. To arrange or deal with in order of importance. v.intr. restoring margins and volumes. Appropriate measures have been taken to reverse the negative trend in the results of our Thai joint venture, but the economical situation in the Southeast Asian region remains highly vulnerable. Taking into account the deconsolidation of the wine activities as per April last and of Spirits on September 1 next, it is expected that net income from ordinary activities over full 1998 as compared to 1997 in total will be 25% to 30% lower, half of which is caused by the deconsolidation of Spirits & Wines. Following the sale of the French wine activities last April, it is expected that the selling agreement of Bols Royal Distilleries will be signed next week. The final selling price will be based on the closing balance sheet as per last August 31. The total cash proceeds of these divestments will amount to approximately NLG 500 million and a book profit of approximately NLG 200 million. The capital gain resulting from the divestment of Spirits & Wines will be treated as an extraordinary gain in 1998. Restructuring restructuring - The transformation from one representation form to another at the same relative abstraction level, while preserving the subject system's external behaviour (functionality and semantics). measures to be taken could result in an extraordinary charge in the second half of 1998 of not more than NLG 50 million. The company will focus on dairy as its most important core activity, since dairy represents a huge and attractive growth market. Natural & Specialty Foods and Cereals will also continue to be important growth engines of the company. The actions in Convenience Food are first and foremost geared to profit recovery. It is the intention to change the name of the company into Koninklijke Wessanen N.V. 1998 INTERIM DIVIDEND An unchanged interim dividend of NLG 0.32 ($0.16) per ordinary share of NLG 2.00 will be payable, less dividend tax, effective September 9, 1998. Based in The Netherlands, BolsWessanen produces and markets a wide range of branded and private label dairy, breakfast, frozen and chilled foods Chilled foods are prepared foods stored at refrigeration temperatures (at or below 8°C). They have been available in the United Kingdom and many other industrialised countries since the 1960s. . US units (some 50% of sales) include market leader Kemps kemps coarse hair fibers, found in a wool fleece; a cause for severe downgrading of value. The fibers are hard, brittle, opaque and medullated. They are shed after a short growing period and lie loose in the wool fibers; they will not take dye and will not spin together. Frozen Yogurt yogurt: see fermented milk. yogurt Semisolid, fermented, often flavoured milk food. Yogurt is known and consumed in almost all parts of the world. ; Axelrod Ax·el·rod , Julius 1912-2004. American biochemist and pharmacologist. He shared a 1970 Nobel Prize for studies of the ways in which different substances affect neural impulses. , Crowley, and Heluva Good Cheese dairy products dairy products dairy npl → produits laitier dairy products dairy npl → Milchprodukte pl, Molkereiprodukte pl ; American Beverage Corp. drinks and cocktail cocktail, short mixed drink originating in the United States and served as an appetizer. It generally has a basis of gin, whisky, rum, or brandy combined with vermouth or fruit juices and often flavored with bitters or grenadine. mixes; and Tree of Life natural and specialty foods distribution. BolsWessanen ordinary shares are listed on the Amsterdam, London, Swiss and German stock exchanges and trade in the US in ADR ADR - Astra Digital Radio form. Each ADR is equal to one ordinary share and prices may be accessed on the NASD NASD See: National Association of Securities Dealers NASD See National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). OTC Bulletin Board OTC Bulletin Board An electronic quotation listing of the bid and asked prices of OTC stocks that do not meet the requirements to be listed on the NASDAQ stock-listing system. under the symbol KNKWY. Prices for the ordinary shares may be accessed on Bloomberg Bloomberg A major global provider of 24-hour financial news and information including real-time and historic price data, financials data, trading news and analyst coverage, as well as general news and sports. under the symbol WESS WESS Workshop on Empirical Studies of Software Maintenance WESS Weapons Effect Signature Simulator WESS WWMCCS Environmental Support System WESS Weapons Engagement Scoring System WESS Weapons Engagement Simulator System NA, on the Reuter Equities 2000 Service under BSWS.AS and on Quotron under BSWM BSWM Bureau of Soil and Water Management (Philippines) BSWM Bureau of Solid and Water Management (Philippines) .EU. (a) US dollar equivalents are provided for reader convenience at the June 30, 1998 exchange rate of US $1=NLG 2.0385. -0-
Annexed to press release date 26 August 1998
INTERIM STATEMENT 1998 - KONINKLIJKE BOLSWESSANEN NV
Consolidated income statement
First First
(in millions) six months 1998 six months 1997
--------------- ---------------
US$(b) NLG NLG
Sales 1460.8 2,977.8 2,655.1
Depreciation of
property, plant
and equipment 28.1 57.2 49.4
Other operating
expenses 1385.9 2,825.2 2,487.9
------ ------- 2,882.4 ------- 2,537,3
1414.0 ------- -------
Operating result 46.8 95.4 117.8
Financial income
and expenses, net (14.7) (30.0) (21.5)
------- ------- -------
Income from
ordinary activities
before taxes 32.1 65.4 96.3
Income taxes (15.9) (32.3) (34.9)
------- ------- -------
16.2 33.1 61.4
Income from participations 11.8 24.0 18.4
Minority interest 4.1 8.3 -
------- ------- -------
Net income 32.1 65.4 79.8
======= ======= =======
Sales and operating results Conven-
(in millions) Dairy Natural ience Spirits Total
and Food &
Specialty & Wines
Foods Cereals
$ NLG $ NLG $ NLG $ NLG $ NLG
Net sales
1st six
months 1998 656 1338.0 431.0 879 213 434 160 327 1,461 2,978
1st six
months 1997 1238.0 654 366 397 2,655
Operating result
1st six
months 1998 24 48.0 12.5 25.4 2 4.7 8.5 17.3 47 95.4
1st six
months 1997 53.1 22.0 17.9 24.8 117.8
Return on sales
1st six
months 1998 0.0 2.9% 1.1% 5.3% 3.2%
1st six
months 1997 0.0 3.4% 4.9% 6.2% 4.4%
Consolidated balance sheet
(in millions) June 30, 1998 December 31, 1997
------------- -----------------
$ NLG
Fixed assets 610.9 1,245.3 1,184.7
Current assets 738.5 1,505.5 1,688.4
1349.4 2,750.8 2,873.1
Shareholders' equity 573.5 1,169.0 (c) 1,172.7
Provisions 60.9 124.2 122.6
Long term liabilities 171.9 350.4 255.1
Current liabilities 543.1 1,107.2 1,322.7
1349.4 2,750.8 2,873.1
(b) US dollar equivalents are provided for reader convenience at the
June 30, 1998 exchange rate of US$1=NLG 2.0385.
(c) After deduction of Minority interest NLG 33.4 mln.
The number of ordinary shares of NLG 2.= outstanding at June 30, 1998
amounted to 85,707,333 (at December 31, 1997: 85,221,250).
Unaudited.
CONTACT: Arie Kwak BolsWessanen 011-31-20-547-9547 - or - Anne Beevers Taylor Rafferty Associates 212-889-4350 |
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