IFCO maintains strong growth path in Q2 2010

12 augustus 2010 IFCO Systems N.V. / IFCO maintains strong growth path in Q2 2010 processed and transmitted by Hugin AS. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 12, 2010 IFCO's group revenues grew by 5.6% to US $195.2 million in Q2 2010 compared to Q2 2009 and in H1 2010 by 8.1% to US $383.6 million (currency adjusted by 8.5% in Q2 2010 and by 8.4% in H1 2010). Operational profitability (EBITDA) improved significantly by 22.5% to US $36.1 million in Q2 2010 compared to Q2 2009 and in H1 2010 by 25.6% to US $67.9 million (currency adjusted by 27.4% in Q2 2010 and by 26.5% in H1 2010). As a consequence LTM Q2 2010 EBITDA reached US $142.8 million. RPC Management Services showed again robust and sustainable growth, delivering significant gains in both revenues in Q2 2010, which grew by 12.1% (currency adjusted by 18.3%) to US $106.0 million, and in EBITDA, which grew by 17.1% (currency adjusted by 23.2%) to US $30.6 million, respectively. Pallet Management Services revenues were close to last year's level with revenues at US $89.2 million, although EBITDA increased by 42.3% to US $8.0 million in Q2 2010. The sources of RPC Management Services' revenue gains have held steady in recent quarters, resulting from a combination of organic volume growth in our European RPC business as well as strong and sustainable growth in our RPC US business. Our European business benefited from higher usage and increased penetration of our current customer base as well as winning new retailers in certain markets. Also our efforts to develop the business in East Europe showed good progress and supported the overall positive volume development in Europe. Growth in our RPC US business has accelerated even further due to increasing RPC penetration in our existing customer base and a steady flow of new retailers adopting the RPC model. RPC South America's growth momentum continued to develop. Revenues in Pallet Management Services came in close to previous year levels for Q2 and H1 2010. Although the market pricing environment remained below 2009 levels, the negative sequential trends flattened out, with Q2 2010 average pallet pricing at the same average levels as Q1 2010. Volumes in certain regions of the US have experienced a rebound from 2009 levels, while other regions remain in a depressed state. Service related revenues showed a good growth momentum and continued to increase as a percentage of total revenues. Gross profit margin on a group level increased in Q2 2010 by 2.8 percentage points to 22.8% (H1 2010, grew 2.5 percentage points to 21.8%). RPC Management Services' gross profit margin grew from 27.1% in Q2 2009 to 28.7% in Q2 2010. Gross profit margin in our European RPC business benefited from slightly higher per trip revenues, constant per unit cost of goods sold and relative lower depreciation. Gross profit margin in the RPC US business decreased slightly as a result of slightly lower prices, as well as higher freight costs resulting from higher fuel prices and a higher rate of expedited RPC pool movements in order to meet the increasing customer demand. All regions continue to benefit from the scale effects of the growing business on fixed costs. Gross profit margin in the Pallet Management Services business grew to 15.8% from 12.5% in Q2 2009, with the effects of lower year-over-year customer prices and higher fuel prices now more than offset by significantly lower raw materials costs, improved labor productivity, a more efficient transportation cost structure, and a higher mix of profitable service revenues. Currency adjusted group EBITDA increased in Q2 2010 by 27.4% to US $36.1 million (H1 2010, by 26.5% to US $67.9 million). LTM Q2 2010 currency adjusted EBITDA reached a record level of US $135.8 million. EBITDA on a currency adjusted basis in RPC Management Services increased significantly in Q2 2010 by 23.2% to US $30.6 million (H1 2010, by 27.1% to US $58.0 million). RPC Management Services EBITDA margin improved in Q2 2010 by 1.2 percentage points to 28.8%. EBITDA in Pallet Management Services increased by 42.3% to US $8.0 million in Q2 2010 (H1 2010, by 22.9% to US $14.9 million). EBITDA margin in this segment grew in Q2 2010 to 8.9% from 6.2% in Q2 2009. Currency adjusted EBIT increased by US $7.4 million, or 39.8%, to US $26.1 million in Q2 2010 (H1 2010, by 38.1% to US $47.2 million). LTM Q2 2010 currency adjusted EBIT reached a record level of US $95.7 million. Net result improved from a net loss of US $5.4 million in Q2 2009 to a net profit of US $6.1 million in Q2 2010 (H1 2010 from a net loss of US $2.7 million to a net profit of US $7.0 million). The significant net operational improvements discussed above were partially offset by higher ICE related expenses and a higher deferred tax provision. Net finance costs decreased in both Q2 2010 and H1 2010 as a result of the one-time costs recognized in Q2 2009 in connection with the Company's 2009 refinancing. IFCO's cash flow from continuing operations, excluding the cash flow effect of income tax payments and ICE related payments, more than doubled to US $64.6 million in H1 2010 from US $31.2 million in H1 2009 as a result of higher profit levels and improved working capital development. Our capital expenditure levels increased by US $14.6 million, or 109.4%, to US $28.0 million during Q2 2010 (H1 2010, by 113.0% to US $52.9 million). The realization of the planned growth in Europe and the US has led to continued investments in our RPC pools in 2010. ROCE from continuing operations, on a LTM basis, increased to 21.9% as of June 30, 2010, compared to 19.0% as of year-end 2009 and compared to 16.0% as of June 30, 2009. This positive development is the result of the Company's increased profitability and continuous improved utilization of the RPC pool leading to relative lower capex spending. Our sources of liquidity currently include cash from operations, cash and cash equivalents on hand, amounts available under our RCF and certain factoring agreements. As of June 30, 2010, our liquidity declined to US $78.5 million compared to US $138.2 million as of December 31, 2009 and compared to US $100.1 million as of June 30, 2009. The decline is caused by the growth driven capex in our RPC pools, ICE related payments, the dividend payment and the STECO vendor note payment. We believe that these sources of liquidity are sufficient to finance our future capital and operational requirements in accordance with our business plans. US $ in   H1 2010 H1 2009 thousands, Q2 2009 ((1)) Q2 2010 ((1)) % % LTM Q2 except per share     Change Change 2010 amounts Revenues 195,225 184,877 5.6%   383,628 354,733 8.1%   764,821 Revenues currency adjusted 195,225 179,864 8.5%   383,628 353,816 8.4%   738,227 Gross profit 44,484 36,934 20.4%   83,512 68,412 22.1%   166,240 Gross profit margin 22.8% 20.0%     21.8% 19.3%     21.7% EBITDA 36,078 29,446 22.5%   67,905 54,071 25.6%   142,844 EBITDA currency adjusted 36,078 28,320 27.4%   67,905 53,663 26.5%   135,834 EBITDA margin 18.5% 15.9%     17.7% 15.2%     18.7% EBIT 26,093 19,381 34.6%   47,242 34,559 36.7%   100,829 EBIT currency adjusted 26,093 18,664 39.8%   47,242 34,218 38.1%   95,701 EBIT margin 13.4% 10.5%     12.3% 9.7%     13.2% Net profit (loss) 6,110 (5,441)     7,050 (2,668)     29,672 Net profit (loss) per share - basic 0.12 (0.10)     0.14 (0.05)     0.57 Net profit (loss) per share - diluted 0.12 (0.10)     0.14 (0.05)     0.57 Operating cash flows from continuing operations 40,138 21,565 86.1%   52,737 25,828 104.2%   151,467 Capital expenditures from continuing operations 27,972   13,356 109.4%   52,883 24,829 113.0%   86,129 Return on capital employed (ROCE) 21.9% 16.0%  ((1)) The Company has made changes according to IAS 8 leading to restated Q2 2009 and H1 2009 Financial Statements. For more details we refer to our quarterly report. Outlook: As the financial crisis that unfolded in 2008 spread to the worldwide economy up to today, IFCO experienced challenging economic climates in many of its markets. While the economy in the United States remained in a weak but slightly improved condition during Q2 2010, it is expected that the European economy will recover during 2010. Accordingly, the European RPC Management Services business will continue to leverage IFCO's leadership position and market experience to meet or exceed overall market development. The Company plans to increase its sales initiatives and to continue to expand its geographic presence in Western Europe, Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and South America. In the United States, IFCO realized increases in the overall RPC penetration among grocery food retailers and plans to grow in excess of this market development. Based on the Company's solid RPC business model, IFCO expects that the RPC Management Services businesses will continue to grow in 2010. IFCO's investments to support this growth will be carefully aligned with its business development and are targeted to continually increase the return on its invested capital. IFCO's Pallet Management Services business has significantly been negatively affected by the overall economic decline in the United States in 2009, primarily as a result of pressure on prices from lower market demand. Nevertheless, IFCO remains confident that the key competitive advantages of the Pallet Management Services business - the breadth of service offerings, the national network and the value proposition at a national and local level - have not changed and should allow its Pallet Management Services segment to stabilize revenues and increase profitability in 2010. Q2 2010 has shown nearly flat revenue development as a first slight sign of recovery. The Company believes that its current assessment of the markets and its business development as described above should result in overall significant gains in both revenues and operational profitability in 2010 as compared to 2009. Financially, IFCO expects to be able to fund its capital, operational and debt service requirements through its own operating cash flows. For further explanations, please see IFCO's quarterly report, which will be filed with the Deutsche Börse AG on or about August 12, 2010, and will be available on the Company's website www.ifcosystems.com or www.ifcosystems.de. The Company will hold a conference call on August 19, 2010. The details are available on the Company's website. This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect Management's current view with respect to future events. All statements contained in this release that are not clearly historical in nature or necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking. The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "planned" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of the Management on currently available information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those that may be expressed or implied by such statements. We do not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Sabine Preiss IFCO SYSTEMS N.V. Tel:    +49 89 744 91 316 Fax:   +49 89 744 767 316 Email:  Sabine.Preiss@ifco.de Additional Information IFCO is an international logistics service provider with more than 210 locations worldwide. IFCO operates a pool of over 102 million Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) globally, which are used primarily to transport fresh produce from growers to leading grocery retailers. In the United States, IFCO also provides a national network of pallet management services. IFCO is the market leader in this industry with almost 200 million pallets sorted, repaired and recycled annually. WORLDWIDE RESPONSIBILITY is an IFCO initiative, under which IFCO not only continues to assume its social and environmental responsibility but, working with strong project partners, expands its sphere of responsible activities. With the initiative's first social-engagement project, IFCO supports Food Banks worldwide in their honorable effort to provide food to the needy through the provision of reusable containers and by co-financing delivery vehicles. [HUG#1437432] --- End of Message --- IFCO Systems N.V. Zugspitzstraße 7 Pullach null Listed: Freiverkehr in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg, Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf, Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München, Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Regulierter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse; This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. All reproduction for further distribution is prohibited. Source: IFCO Systems N.V. via Thomson Reuters ONE