Austrian fireproof materials producer Radex-Heraklith (RHI AG) said it expected to post record earnings in 2000 after posting much lower 1999 results that fell below market expectations.
“The increas…
Austrian fireproof materials producer Radex-Heraklith (RHI AG) said it expected to post record earnings in 2000 after posting much lower 1999 results that fell below market expectations. “The increasingly positive framework conditions will enable a substantial increase in earnings before interest and tax compared to the record year 1998 of Euros 81.4 million (US$ 78.04 million) in 2000,” RHI said in a statement. Global steel production rose significantly in the third quarter and is expected to continue this strong momentum throughout 2000. The sanguine outlook was supported further by clearly improved market positions in the refractories and insulating divisions as well as rigorous cost-cutting measures implemented in Europe and initiated in the US, it added. According to preliminary group results for 1999, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell 36.7% to Euros 51.5 million. Analysts had been expecting a fall of an average 21%. Pre-tax profit slumped to 39.3 million from 66.3 million in 1998, while sales slipped around 2% to 1.57 billion. Earnings per share tumbled to Euros 0.32 from 3.55. RHI said the acquisition of Global Industrial Technologies, Inc. in December offered significant rationalization potential. The integration of the US group“s refractories business into the Austrian“s would result in a sustainable savings potential of around Euros 29 million annually, RHI said. The one-off extraordinary expenses from creating such synergies at present amounts to Euros 29.7 million, it added.