TURNOVER +16.5% AND REBITDA +12.0%
TURNOVER GROWTH BETWEEN 5% AND 10% EXPECTED FOR 2009
Waregem (Belgium), 3 March 2009 – Today, Arseus publishes its results for the 2008 financial year. In 2008, the consolidated turnover increased by 16.5% to € 354.5 million. Organic growth was 6.9%. REBITDA increased by 12.0%, while EBIT increased by 13.6% to € 30.0 million. Net profit decreased by 8.4% in 2008 due to the inclusion in the income statement of the revaluation of the financial derivatives, a non-cash item, of € 4 million. The recurring net profit increased by 14.6% to € 20.9 million. It is also proposed to increase the gross dividend by € 0.24 to € 0.30 per share.
These strong results show that the global economic recession has had little impact on Arseus in 2008. Only the Arseus Dental division sold less equipment than expected during the last months of 2008, partly due to not being able to supply a number of large orders and partly due to customers postponing purchase decisions.
Ger van Jeveren, CEO of Arseus: ‘Our unique combination of professional healthcare operations, our strong market positions and our healthy financial situation has put us in an excellent position to implement our strategy, even in the current economic climate. For 2009, we expect turnover growth of between 5% and 10% and REBITDA growth to exceed turnover growth, also due to a company-wide cost savings programme which has been initiated in the meantime. We are confident about our future prospects.’
The press release (including tables) can be downloaded from the following link: