SURTECO SE, leading international manufacturer of surface technologies based on plastics and papers for the international construction and furnishing industry, generated sales of € 90.3 million in the first quarter of 2010. This was an improvement of 6 % above the sales volume in the equivalent year-earlier period. While the German market experienced a decline of 5 %, foreign sales increased by 13 %. The percentage of foreign sales went up by four percentage points to 65 %.
The Strategic Business Unit Plastics closed the first three months of the reporting year with sales of € 52.9 million (-1 %). The paper segment generated € 37.4 million (+20 %). Growth was primarily powered by foreign markets.
During the first quarter of 2010, the operating result (EBITDA) of the SURTECO Group amounted to € 15.2 million (+7 %). Earnings before tax (EBT) increased from € 0.6 million to € 8.1 million. This was amongst others due to the significant improvement in the financial result from € -8.6 million to € -2.1 million. In the first quarter of 2009, an impairment of € 6.0 million was necessary on account of the unfavourable development in price of the package of shares in Pfleiderer AG, Neumarkt, held by SURTECO.
Consolidated net profit amounted to € 5.3 million (2009: € -1.4 million) during the first three months of the year. 11,075,522 no-par shares yield earnings per share of € 0.48 (2009: € -0.12).
