"Despite a challenging economic environment, we have further expanded our strong market position in almost all markets in the past financial year. Besides increasing turnover, the focus also lay on strengthening our financial power, with the result that Kapsch TrafficCom not only generated a clearly positive free cash flow in the financial year of 2009/10, but also significantly increased its equity ratio. With this solid capital structure we have set the course for further growth - this means that in the future we will also be able to grow in an ongoing, difficult market environment", commented Georg Kapsch, Chief Executive Officer of Kapsch TrafficCom AG, about the financial year 2009/10.
Revenues and earnings
In the fiscal year 2009/10 ended 31 March 2010, the Kapsch TrafficCom Group increased revenues by 8% to EUR 216.0 million (2008/09: EUR 200.3 million). Due to again large investments in the expansion into new markets, particularly the U.S.A., EBITDA declined by 9% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year (2008/09: EUR 35.0 million) to EUR 32.0 million and EBIT also declined by 15% to EUR 24.5 million (2008/09: EUR 29.0 million).
Primarily due to an accounting profit of EUR 14.1 million resulting from the reclassification of the stake in the Norwegian competitor Q-Free ASA, which was required after the shareholding, as a consequence of capital increases, fell below the threshold of 20%, and due to the financial result which unlike in the previous fiscal year clearly turned into positive again, profit before tax improved to EUR 43.9 million (2008/09: EUR 21.9 million) and profit after tax also improved to EUR 36.5 million (2008/09: EUR 16.4 million).
The performance of the segment SEC (Services, System Extensions, Components Sales) was particularly strong which also reflects the successful implementation of the strategy of the Kapsch TrafficCom Group. Revenues were increased by 19% from EUR 135.6 million in fiscal year 2008/09 to EUR 161.9 million in fiscal year 2009/10. This success was adjacent to further increased recurring revenues from the operation of the nationwide electronic truck tolling system in the Czech Republic in particular attributable to a record volume of on-board units (OBUs). At an all-time high of more than 3.5 million, the total volume of OBUs delivered in the fiscal year 2009/10 increased by 30% compared with nearly 2.7 million units in the previous fiscal year. Moreover, bonus payments from the nationwide electronic truck tolling systems in Austria and in the Czech Republic, where the average toll transaction rate further increased from 98.2% in the calendar year 2008 to 99.0% in the calendar year 2009, contributed to this positive development of the segment.
The earnings per share increased from EUR 1.06 in the previous fiscal year 2008/09 to EUR 2.64 in fiscal year 2009/10. The managing board will propose that the shareholders’ meeting to be held on 25 August 2010 resolve a dividend of EUR 0.75 per share for fiscal year 2009/10 (2008/09: EUR 0.50 per share), representing a payout ratio of approximately 28% (2008/09: approximately 47%).
Financial position and cashflows
Kapsch TrafficCom clearly improved the free cash flow to EUR 41.6 million compared to EUR 19.9 million during the same period of the previous fiscal year. At EUR 4.8 million, the capital expenditure in assets was significantly reduced compared to the previous year (2008/09: EUR 22.2 million). In the same period, Kapsch TrafficCom clearly improved its capital structure again. With total assets of EUR 295.1 million as of 31 March 2010, down by 9% from EUR 324.5 million as of 31 March 2009, the Kapsch TrafficCom Group’s equity ratio reached 57.0% as of 31 March 2010 (31 March 2010: 41.4%). As of 31 March 2010, the net working capital was reduced by 14% to EUR 104.6 million compared to EUR 122.3 million as of 31 March 2009. This should further improve the position of the Kapsch TrafficCom Group on the international financial markets.
Outlook
With the fiscal year 2010/11 in mind, Kapsch TrafficCom takes an optimistic view on its markets in the long term even in a changed economic environment. The fiscal year 2010/11 will be shaped by the realisation of the project in South Africa as well as the participation in tenders and by project awards in France, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Denmark.
The annual report for the fiscal year 2009/10 can be downloaded at www.kapschtraffic.com / Investor Relations / Financial information.
Kapsch TrafficCom is an international supplier of superior intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and primarily supplies electronic toll collection systems. With its end-to-end solution portfolio, Kapsch TrafficCom covers the entire value creation chain of its customers, from products and systems to integration and operations, as a one-stop shop. Kapsch TrafficCom also offers solutions for urban access management as well as for traffic safety and security. Add-on applications to these solutions, such as traffic data collection, complement the offering. With references in 41 countries in all five continents, Kapsch TrafficCom has positioned itself among the internationally recognized suppliers of intelligent transportation systems. Kapsch TrafficCom AG is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and represented in 25 countries.