Consolidated Financial Statements - L. Possehl & Co. mbH

Gross earnings improve by 36 %
Gross earnings grew signifi cantly by € 73.2 million or 36.4 % to € 274.5
million. The acquisition of the Harburg-Freudenberger Group is also
refl ected in this positive development. Offsetting this was the decline in
gross earnings in the International Trading and Precious Metals Processing
divisions. The Electronics business division was again able to record
an increase in gross earnings in 2005, as in the previous year.
Comparable operating expenditure clearly below that
of the previous year
Based on the comparable fi gures of the previous year, the other operating
expenses declined signifi cantly. The personnel expenses in particular,
adjusted for changes to the companies included in the consolidation,
could be considerably reduced. The cost reduction and effi ciency
improvement program introduced in the Electronics division already
showed initial success during the reporting year.
Earnings before taxes increase by 65.1 %
The Group earnings before taxes (EBT) improved signifi cantly by € 14.3
million to € 36.3 million. The previous business divisions together with
the newly consolidated Harburg-Freudenberger Group contributed to
this increase in earnings. The Electronics division, in particular, was
able to increase earnings before taxes by over 50 % with a slight increase
in sales. Earnings before taxes in International Trading at € 11.7
million were slightly below the very good earnings of the previous year.
All other operating business divisions also reported positive earnings.
Segment earnings EBT
in € million, excluding the holding company
■ Services
■ Trading
■ Production
1.3
13.2
13.8
2004 2005
1.4
11.7
29.0
The holding company earnings also increased signifi cantly compared
to the previous year. In addition to decreased personnel expenses, the
dividend of Norddeutsche Affi nerie AG, which was absent the previous
year, had a positive effect on the holding company earnings of € 2.2
million.
The return on equity before income tax increased from 13.3 % in the
previous year to 20.6 % in the reporting period. The profi t to sales
ratio (EBIT/sales) also increased considerably by 1.4 percentage points
to 5.3 %.
Group net income for the year increases to € 26.5 million
The Group net income for the year before shares to third parties increased
by € 9.6 million to € 26.5 million. Due to one-time tax burdens,
the income tax rate increased from 15.9 % in the previous year to
23.9 % in the reporting year, causing the increase in Group net income
for the year to lag slightly behind the increase in earnings before taxes.
The Group tax rate continues to be below the regular tax rate in the
reporting year, however, due to the utilization of tax loss carryovers in
some countries.
EARNINGS POSITION IN THE PRODUCTION
BUSINESS SEGMENT
in €T
2005 2004 Change %
Sales 459,795 326,649 40.7
EBT 28,990 13,828 109.7
Capital expenditures 15,480 15,997 -3.2
Precious Metals Processing: Strong demand for industrial
semi-fi nished products partially compensates for declines
in the dental area
The activities in the Precious Metals Processing business division were
affected by a weak economy during the past year. Competition continued
to increase, in particular in the jewelry and dental areas. Sales
compared to the previous year therefore declined by 5 %.
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