Rieter Group posts slightly higher net profit in 2005 than last year
29 Mar '06
2 min read
The Rieter Group slightly increased net profit to CHF138.1 million, despite a difficult market environment. This is equivalent to 4.5 percent of corporate output (CHF137.8 million or 4.5 percent, respectively, in 2004).
Consolidated sales of CHF3.16 billion almost equaled the record figure of CHF3.17 billion posted in the previous year. The operating result (EBIT) amounted to CHF183.0 million (CHF210.5 million in 2004).
The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting, that a dividend of CHF10.00 per share should be paid as in the previous year.
Rieter is increasing its holding in the Spanish automotive component supplier Rieter Saifa to 100 percent with retroactive effect as of January 1st 2006. Full acquisition of the company will enable Rieter to exploit growth opportunities in Europe's third-largest automobile market even more effectively.
Despite the high oil price and the rising cost of raw materials, the global economy recorded stronger overall growth in 2005 than had generally been expected at the beginning of the year.
The large Asian economies of China and India developed especially vigorously. The US and Japan also proved to be economically robust, while growth rates in the EU countries were considerably lower. The good prospects for the global economy also had a favorable impact on the stock markets.
The textile machinery and automobile markets developed less favorably than the global economy as a whole. Uncertainty in the textile industry caused by China's negotiations with the US and the EU over WTO textile quotas had an adverse impact on investments in textile machinery. In the automotive industry the high fuel prices were a major factor resulting in unstable demand trends.
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