PERLOS
Low capacity use in H1 2005 hits profits / Shift in geographical focus relocates jobs
With a 19% increase in net sales in 2005 against 2004 to EUR 666.8m, Perlos (Vantaa / Finland; www.perlos.com), world market leader for injection moulded plastics components for mobile phones, achieved its target. At the same time, the European share of sales fell from 68% to 54%, while North and South America´s stake rose from 17% to 25%, and Asia contributed 21% (15%).
The Telecommunications und Electronics segment accounted for 92% of turnover, Healthcare for 8%. About 90% of sales were with four main customers – Nokia, BenQ Mobile, Research in Motion (RIM) and AstraZeneca. Employment rose from 6,500 in 2004 to more than 10,000. Well over half of the workforce is based in Europe.
Perlos had less reason to be satisfied with operating profit, which plummeted from EUR 87.6m in 2004 to EUR 13.3m. The company said profitability was affected by the low capacity utilisation in the first half year, stiff price competition and non-recurring write-downs due to the closure of the plant in Ylöjärvi (see Plasteurope.com Web of 19.05.2005). Added to this were losses in Q4 at the company´s Fort Worth, Texas / USA plant. The net result for the year was EUR 8.3m, down from EUR 63m.
In 2006, the Finnish injection moulding specialist hopes to increase sales at least in line with volume growth of the mobile phone market. In Q1, it expects net sales to grow by about a third against 2005. However, earnings are likely to be burdened by losses incurred on operations in high-cost countries.
To reflect fundamental changes in the structure of the telecommunications market since spring 2005 – increasing saturation in industrialised companies and significant growth in Asia and Central America – the company is shifting its geographic focus. Last year, it expanded activities in Hungary and China and built a new plant in Mexico. Apart from the closure of the plant in Ylöjärvi / Finland in March, plans call for improving production efficiency and cutting the Finnish workforce by around 600. These measures should be reflected in results by early 2007.
Perlos expects annual cost savings of around EUR 15m from the shift of production from Fort Worth to Reyhosa / Mexico during the second quarter – some 1,250 jobs will go south. To meet growing demand for mobile phones in India, a new moulding plant with an initial floor space of 15,000 m² is scheduled to be started up at Chennai at the beginning of 2007. Some EUR 10m will be invested at the site during 2006.
The Telecommunications und Electronics segment accounted for 92% of turnover, Healthcare for 8%. About 90% of sales were with four main customers – Nokia, BenQ Mobile, Research in Motion (RIM) and AstraZeneca. Employment rose from 6,500 in 2004 to more than 10,000. Well over half of the workforce is based in Europe.
Perlos had less reason to be satisfied with operating profit, which plummeted from EUR 87.6m in 2004 to EUR 13.3m. The company said profitability was affected by the low capacity utilisation in the first half year, stiff price competition and non-recurring write-downs due to the closure of the plant in Ylöjärvi (see Plasteurope.com Web of 19.05.2005). Added to this were losses in Q4 at the company´s Fort Worth, Texas / USA plant. The net result for the year was EUR 8.3m, down from EUR 63m.
In 2006, the Finnish injection moulding specialist hopes to increase sales at least in line with volume growth of the mobile phone market. In Q1, it expects net sales to grow by about a third against 2005. However, earnings are likely to be burdened by losses incurred on operations in high-cost countries.
To reflect fundamental changes in the structure of the telecommunications market since spring 2005 – increasing saturation in industrialised companies and significant growth in Asia and Central America – the company is shifting its geographic focus. Last year, it expanded activities in Hungary and China and built a new plant in Mexico. Apart from the closure of the plant in Ylöjärvi / Finland in March, plans call for improving production efficiency and cutting the Finnish workforce by around 600. These measures should be reflected in results by early 2007.
Perlos expects annual cost savings of around EUR 15m from the shift of production from Fort Worth to Reyhosa / Mexico during the second quarter – some 1,250 jobs will go south. To meet growing demand for mobile phones in India, a new moulding plant with an initial floor space of 15,000 m² is scheduled to be started up at Chennai at the beginning of 2007. Some EUR 10m will be invested at the site during 2006.
02.03.2006 Plasteurope.com [204645]
Published on 02.03.2006
German version of this article...