Barco confirms expectations for 4Q04 in preliminary information on the results
Kortrijk, Belgium, 26 January, 2005 - Barco (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB) today announces that it has met its sales targets for 4Q04 results, despite a 9.1% year-over-year decline of the US dollar. This robust level of sales in 4Q04 was partially offset by a lower level of orders, which led to a book-to-bill ratio of 0.97 over the full year 2004.
4Q04 Financial Highlights:• Orders down 14% to euro 162.1 million, leading to a book-to-bill ratio of 0.84 from 1.08 in 4Q03. Some orders have shifted to 2005. At constant exchange rates orders would have been at euro 168.7 million.
• Sales at euro 193.1 million, up 11% year-over-year and slightly above the expected range of euro 182 to 192 million.
• EBITA approximately at euro 24.8 million, at the lower side of the expected range of euro 24 to 29 million. This is due to the further decrease of the US dollar and related currencies versus the euro, impacting profitability in USD-based countries. Furthermore, this decrease causes price pressure in the euro-zone from USD-based competition.
• Year-on-year currency fluctuations have a negative impact of approximately euro 2 million on 4Q04 EBITA.
Fiscal Year 2004 Financial Highlights:
• Orders declined 1% to euro 653.5 million year-over-year, but would have increased by 3% at constant exchange rates. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.97 compared to 1.05 in 2003.
• Sales reached euro 672 million, a 6.9% increase year-over-year. At constant exchange rates, sales would have increased by 12%.
• EBITA approximately at euro 72 million, year-over-year, an increase of 5%.
• Year-on-year currency fluctuations have a negative impact of more than euro 4 million on 2004 EBITA.
Net income before goodwill and extraordinary charges was approximately euro 57.5 million versus euro 54.6 million in 2003.
Net result for 2004 was approximately euro 47.5 million compared to euro 46.6 million in 2003.
The above are preliminary and non-audited results. Barco will release the final results of 4Q04 and FY 2004 on 17 February 2005.
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, provides visualization and display solutions for professional markets. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco is active worldwide and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco is quoted on Euronext Brussels and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB).
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