President & CEO of Glaston, Arto Metsänen, said: “In 2011, Glaston’s operating environment and market situation remained challenging. At the beginning of the year there were signs of growth, but in the second half the problems of the world economy were reflected in our customers’ willingness to invest and led to the postponement of larger investment decisions.”
As per its Financial Statement Release regarding the 1 January – 31 December 2011 period, Glaston Corporation reported the following:
- orders received in January-December totalled EUR 141.3 (147.7) million. Orders received in the fourth quarter totalled EUR 39.7 (40.1) million;
- the order book on 31 December 2011 was EUR 37.6 (41.5) million;
- consolidated net sales totalled EUR 142.7 (149.4) million. Final quarter net sales were EUR 39.3 (37.7) million;
- EBITDA was EUR 7.0 (-10.4) million, i.e. 4.9 (-6.9)% of net sales;
- the operating result was a loss of EUR 1.1 (24.9 loss) million, i.e. -0.8 (-16.7)% of net sales. The final quarter operating result was EUR 1.1 (17.6 loss) million;
- the operating result, excluding non-recurring items, was a loss of EUR 1.4 (11.3 loss) million, i.e. -1.0 (-7.5)% of net sales. The final quarter operating result, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 0.9 (3.9 loss);
- return on capital employed (ROCE) was 0.3 (-19.0)%;
- earnings per share in January-December were EUR -0.14 (-0.39) and fourth-quarter earnings per share were EUR -0.01 (-0.23);
- the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that no dividend be distributed;
- Glaston expects that 2012 net sales will be at least at the 2011 level and that the operating result will be positive.
President & CEO Arto Metsänen said: “In 2011, Glaston’s operating environment and market situation remained challenging. At the beginning of the year there were signs of growth, but in the second half the problems of the world economy were reflected in our customers’ willingness to invest and led to the postponement of larger investment decisions.”
“In 2011 Glaston’s market did not grow and our net sales fell slightly short of the previous year’s figure. Despite this, we still managed to improve our profitability significantly. All segments improved their result compared with the previous year. The biggest improvement came in the Machines segment. I would like to thank everyone in the organisation for their valuable contribution.”
“Continuous product development is extremely important to Glaston. Despite the recession, we have continued to invest strongly in research and development in order to maintain competitiveness. Last year, research and development spending totalled EUR 8.1 million, i.e. 5,7% of net sales. During the year we launched a number of new products covering the whole life cycle of glass processing.”
“I look towards 2012 with confidence. We are bringing our operational efficiency measures to completion. We have purposefully developed our operations and through active product development we are able to offer a comprehensive range of up-to-date products and services. These measures create a foundation for growing our business.”