IFCO SYSTEMS Reports 2006 Results.HOUSTON -- Consolidated revenues grew by 12.3% to US $647.2 million compared to prior year, while EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become decreased by 2.2% to US $96.3 million. The reduction was due to materially reduced productivity and profitability of our Pallet-Management-Services business segment, caused by the US Immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation commencing April 19, 2006. Although Pallet-Management-Services revenues grew by 7.6% to US $362.1 million in 2006 compared to 2005, Q4 2006 revenues in this business segment declined by 14.5% as compared to Q4 2005 primarily as a result of reduced production capacities following the ICE investigation. EBITDA declined in 2006 by 50.1% to US $17.0 million, primarily as a result of lower operational productivity after April 19, 2006. Non recurring legal costs in the amount of US $7.1 million related to the ICE investigation further impacted IFCO IFCO Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization IFCO International Foster Care Organisation (Den Haag, Netherlands) IFCO International Fan Club Organization (Nashville, Tennessee) SYSTEMS' net profit in 2006 negatively. IFCO SYSTEMSo worldwide RPC-Management-Services business was continuing its profitable growth path in Europe and the US in 2006. Revenues grew by 18.9% to US $285.1 million and EBITDA grew by 16.6% to US $83.8 million. In line with Company's decrease in profitability, operating cash flows Operating cash flow Earnings before depreciation minus taxes. Measures the cash generated from operations, not counting capital spending or working capital requirements. decreased by 3.2% to US $92.3 million in 2006. Capital expenditures increased 20.7% to US $101.3 million, including the acquisition of the CHEP CHEP Cricohyoidoepiglottopexy CHEP Computers in High Energy Physics (Conference) CHEP Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pooling (CHEP Inc.) USA RPC (Remote Procedure Call) A programming interface that allows one program to use the services of another program in a remote machine. The calling program sends a message and data to the remote program, which is executed, and results are passed back to the calling assets in Q1 2006. ROCE ROCE See: Return on capital employed from continuing operations continuing operations Parts of a business that are expected to be maintained as an ongoing segment of an overall business operation. Income and losses from continuing operations are reported separately if any segments have been discontinued during the decreased to 18.4% in 2006. ROCE was negatively affected by our lower EBIT EBIT See: Earnings Before Interest and Taxes EBIT See earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). level, mainly caused by the accelerated depreciation Accelerated Depreciation Any method of depreciation used for accounting or income tax purposes that allows greater deductions in the earlier years of the life of an asset. Notes: The straight-line depreciation method spreads the cost evenly over the life of an asset. of the CHEP USA RPC assets acquired during 2006, and the significant increase of our Capital Employed Capital Employed 1. The total amount of capital used for the acquisition of profits. 2. The value of all the assets employed in a business. 3. Fixed assets plus working capital. 4. Total assets less current liabilities. , primarily our RPC pool. [TABLE OMITTED] IFCO SYSTEMSo RPC-Management-Services business will leverage its leadership position and strong market experience to continue to realize its market development plans. IFCO SYSTEMS continues to expect an increase in the overall RPC penetration in the market and expects to continue its growth path. The strong demand gives IFCO SYSTEMS confidence to continue to invest in its RPC pool during 2007. The Pallet-Management-Services business was significantly affected by the business consequences of the ICE investigation in 2006. The recovery of this business segment to acceptable profitability levels will be the Company's main business target for 2007. In this business segment, IFCO SYSTEMS anticipates continuing year-over-year gains in business volume, although revenues earlier in 2007 are expected to be lower than the corresponding 2006 periods as the business continues to recover from the effects of the ICE investigation. IFCO SYSTEMS believes that the continued development of the National Sales program and the increasing range of value-added services will sustain the companyos existing leadership position within this segment. IFCO SYSTEMS does not anticipate significant changes in its overall strategies in the near term and expects that the business development which has existed in recent years to remain in place during 2007. IFCO SYSTEMS expects the economies in Western Europe Western Europe The countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). to grow at a similar rate as experienced during 2006. Though some recent slowdown can be seen in the United States economy, IFCO SYSTEMS expects to outpace projected economic growth in 2007. IFCO SYSTEMS believes that the above trends will result in increased revenues and operating profits during 2007 compared to 2006. For further explanations please see IFCO SYSTEMSo annual report 2006, which will be filed with the Deutsche Borse AG on or about February 22, 2007, and will be available on the companyos website www.ifcosystems.com or www.ifcosystems.de. This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Management's current view with respect to future events. All statements contained in this release that are not clearly historical in nature or necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking. The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "planned" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of the Management on currently available information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those that may be expressed or implied by such statements. We do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this release. |
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