PRESS RELEASE: CEWE turnover rises to exceed EUR 500 million for the first time

PRESS RELEASE: CEWE turnover rises to exceed EUR 500 million for the first time

 
DGAP-News: CEWE COLOR Holding AG / Key word(s): Final Results/Results 
Forecast 
CEWE turnover rises to exceed EUR 500 million for the first time 
 
26.02.2013 / 18:50 
 
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CEWE turnover rises to exceed EUR 500 million for the first time 
 
  - Record sales of the CEWE PHOTO BOOK:  5.6 million books sold 
 
  - Core business contributes strongly to EBIT: EUR 33.7 million 
 
  - Sales boosted in new online printing business 
 
  - Earnings per share rise to EUR 2.87 
 
  - Dividend to be increased slightly 
 
  - Planned tax advantage through change in form 
 
Oldenburg, 26 February 2013. CEWE COLOR Holding AG (SDAX, ISIN: 
DE0005403901) generated turnover amounting to EUR 503.3 million in the 
business year of 2012 (2011: EUR 469.0 million), thus achieving more than 
EUR 500 million for the first time in the history of the company. This 
means that CEWE COLOR has also achieved its own target of sales of at least 
EUR 500 million.  EBIT amounted to EUR 28.9 million (target for 2012: EUR 
27 to 33 million) after EUR 30.1 million in the previous year. 'We have - 
as we had planned - used some of the substantial income generated with 
photofinishing to launch a comprehensive marketing campaign in order to 
boost online printing growth,' says CEO Dr. Rolf Hollander. Earnings after 
tax rose by 1.3 percent to EUR 18.8 million. The Board of Management 
intends to propose a slight dividend increase. 
 
CEWE PHOTO BOOK again the fast seller in Christmas business in 2012 
Customers purchased 38 percent of the CEWE PHOTO BOOKS in the fourth 
quarter of 2012: 2.1 million books (+10.3%) of the total of 5.6 million 
books sold (+8.4%). The CEWE PHOTO BOOK was thus the fast seller in 
Christmas business in 2012 as well. Since customers are increasingly 
choosing superior products, sales of the books increased by as much as 11% 
in 2012. The brand product once again contributed significantly to the 
success of the company. 
 
Strong Christmas business: Q4 EBIT increases by 13.3% 
The third quarter, with photos from the summer holidays, used to be the 
main quarter by far, but for years now the seasonal peak has been shifting 
more and more to the fourth quarter, in which demand for the CEWE PHOTO 
BOOK and photo calendars, photo greeting cards and wall decorations is 
high, particularly for use as Christmas gifts. Income from the main 
business segment of photofinishing again increased accordingly in the 
fourth quarter. EBIT in the photofinishing segment rose by 16.2% to EUR 
28.2 million in Q4, and  for the company as a whole by 13.3% to EUR 29.2 
million 
 
Core business with excellent result 
The core business of the company, comprising photofinishing and photo 
retailing business, delivered EBIT in the amount of EUR 33.7 million in 
2012, which exceeded the EBIT target corridor for the company as a whole in 
the amount of EUR 27 to 33 million. 'Success in our core business is the 
foundation for investing considerably in the growth of the new business 
sector of 'online printing' while at the same time increasing earnings per 
share,' Dr. Hollander says in explanation of the income mechanism for the 
previous business year. 
 
Online printing grows more than anticipated 
Comprehensive advertising on television and perimeter advertising at 
football games as well as costs incurred for the integration of Saxoprint, 
a company acquired in 2012, have pushed down EBIT for this business sector 
to EUR -4.8 million, thus boosting turnover in this new line of business 
from EUR 1.4 million to EUR 43 million. The turnover target of EUR 40 
million was thus exceeded by 8%. 'Our strategy is bearing fruit - the 
Saxoprint acquisition is paying off. In 2012, online printing progressed to 
become a veritable new business segment with good prospects for the future 
of CEWE COLOR,' says Dr. Hollander. 
 
Change in form to become a limited joint-stock partnership to save EUR 10 
million in taxes 
The Board of Management of CEWE COLOR Holding AG has resolved to propose a 
change in the form of the company at the Annual General Meeting on 5 June 
2013. The company would take on the legal form of a limited joint-stock 
partnership, which would conduct the business operated by CEWE, so that a 
structural tax drawback would no longer apply. In the coming few years, a 
tax benefit of a probable cash value of around EUR 10 million will be 
achieved. 'More than anything else, the tax benefit and the switch from the 
form of an operating general partnership, which always needed to be 
explained, to the very popular form of a limited joint-stock partnership 
make this plan a worthwhile step for our shareholders,' says Financial 
Director Dr. Olaf Holzkämper. The transaction still requires the approval 
of the bodies in charge. 
 
Outlook: More investments in strong-growth online printing 
As in 2012, the Board of Management expects CEWE PHOTO BOOKS, photo 
calendars, greeting cards and wall decorations to secure the same high 
level of turnover and income in 2013, while online printing is to 
contribute more growth impulses in the short term and also additional 
income in the medium term. In 2016 at the latest, online printing is to 
generate more than EUR 100 million in turnover. For this reason the Board 
of Management intends to invest some of the income generated with 
photofinishing into online printing growth. 'With the huge step taken in 
online printing, 2012 was an important year for the development of our 
company. The high-yield, stable photofinishing segment in particular will 
accelerate online printing growth with some of its income in 2013 as well,' 
Hollander explains how the business segments correlate. Online printing is 
to increase to generate turnover amounting to EUR 60 million (+40%), so 
that Group sales will increase by 1 to 5%, to EUR 510 to 530 million. Due 
to investments in online printing, EBIT in 2013 is also to be in the range 
of EUR 27 to 33 million, and earnings per share are to be in the range of 
EUR 2.44 and 3.06 per share. 
 
The information is all based on preliminary results which have not yet been 
audited. CEWE COLOR will present full, audited annual financial statements 
during an annual report and analysts' press conference to be held in 
Frankfurt am Main on 27 March 2013. 
 
Business segments 
 
CEWE COLOR             Unit      Q4-2011   Q4-2012     2011       2012 
(1) Photofinishing 
(PF) 
Turnover               in EUR m. 129.6     132.0       355.5      355.4 
EBIT                   in EUR m. 24.8      28.8        30.5       32.0 
EBIT margin            %         19.1%     21.8%       8.6%       9.0% 
(2) Retailing (R) 
Turnover               in EUR m. 30.9      30.5        112.2      105.0 
EBIT                   in EUR m. 1.6       1.5         2.4        1.7 
EBIT margin            %         5.2%      5.0%        2.2%       1.6% 
Core business (PF + R) 
Turnover               in EUR m. 160.5     162.5       467.6      460.4 
EBIT                   in EUR m. 26.4      30.3        33.0       33.7 
EBIT margin            %         16.5%     18.7%       7.0%       7.3% 
(3) Online printing 
Turnover               in EUR m. 0.5       14.4        1.4        43.0 
EBIT                   in EUR m. -0.7      -1.2        -2.8       -4.8 
EBIT margin            %         -141%     -78.7%      -205%      -11.1% 
CEWE COLOR Group 
Turnover               in EUR m. 161.0     176.9       469.0      503.3 
EBIT                   in EUR m. 25.8      29.2        30.1       28.9 
EBIT margin            %         16.0%     16.5%       6.4%       5.7% 
                                           2012         Turnover  500 - 525 
                                           targets 
                                                            EBIT  27 - 33 
                                                            EBIT  5.1% - 
                                                          margin  6.6% 
 
Information 
 
(1) Photofinishing: Production and sale of photo products such as the CEWE 
PHOTO BOOK,photo greeting cards, calendars, wall decorations and 
individual (analogue    and digital) photos as well as other photo products 
 
(2) Retailing: Trading in CEWE's own retail stores in Norway, Poland, the 
Czech Republic and Slovakia with photo hardware such as cameras and lenses 
 
Core business: Aggregate of photofinishing and retailing 
 
(3) Online printing: Production and sale of commercial print products in 
the online printing portals at CEWE-PRINT.de, Saxoprint.de and Viaprinto.de 
 
 
2012 in a comparison with the previous year 
 
CEWE COLOR Group  Unit            2011      2012       2012       2013 
                                            target     actual     target 
Digital prints    in billion      2.25      2.13 -     2.30       2.10 - 
                  units                     2.18                  2.15 
Prints from films in billion      0.25      0.16 -     0.16       0.10 - 
                  units                     0.18                  0.11 
Total prints      in billion      2.50      2.29 -     2.46       2.20 - 
                  units                     2.36                  2.26 
CEWE PHOTO BOOKS  in m. units     5.1       5.7 - 5.9  5.6        5.8 - 6.0 
Turnover          in EUR m.       469.0     500 - 525  503.3      510 - 530 
EBIT              in EUR m.       30.1      27 - 33    28.9       27 - 33 
EBIT margin       %               6.4%      5.1% -     5.7%       5.1% - 
                                            6.6%                  6.5% 
EBT               in EUR m.       29.2      25 - 31    26.7       25 - 31 
Earnings after    in EUR m.       18.6      16 - 20    18.8       16 - 20 
tax 
Earnings per      in euros/share  2.84      2.44 -     2.87       2.44 - 
share                                       3.06                  3.06 
 
 
Fourth quarter in 2012 
 
CEWE COLOR Group   Unit             Q4-2011 Q4-2012 Diff. %   Diff. abs. 
Digital prints     in billion units 0.71    0.75    +4.8%     +0.04 
Prints from films  in billion units 0.05    0.03    -36.5%    -0.02 

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February 26, 2013 12:50 ET (17:50 GMT)

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