Financial Information - Uralita

FINANCIAL INFORMATION ANNUAL REPORT 2006
customers. It also helped drive the XPS
business. In all, revenue in the Insulation
Business rose 12.7% to €495.9 million.
EBITDA for Insulation Business surged 57.8% to
€87.4 million, mostly fuelled by the increase in
revenue and the cost savings derived from the
restructuring of industrial, logistics and overhead
costs in 2005 and 2006.
The Gypsum Business posted revenue of
€234.4 million, a 17.4% increase from 2005
thanks to steady increase in penetration of
plasterboard in Spain and stronger commercial
efforts to offer powdered gypsum customers
higher value-added products. EBITDA for the
business rose 18.1% to €69.1 million,
underpinned by higher sales, the impact of
measures to boost plant productivity and costcutting
initiatives undertaken over the last two
years.
implemented in 2005 and carried out
throughout 2006. Revenue advanced 3.0% to
€168.6 million (+9.6% like-for-like), thanks to
the increase in pipe volume sales as part of the
new commercial strategy for the Business. This
made it possible to partially pass on to sale
prices the increase in the cost of PVC resin
sustained in previous years. EBITDA totalled
€11 million, with the EBITDA margin improving
4.1p.p. The growth in margins stemmed from
lower production costs deriving from factory
specialisation, higher plant utilisation and
sizeable cuts in commercial and overhead
expenses.
3. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
In 2006, the Group spent €0.7 million on R&D
projects.
The Roof Tiles Business achieved a 44.1%
increase in revenue in the year, to €102.9
million, largely thanks to the disposal of non-core
assets. Like-for-like revenue was 2.7% lower, as
activity in Spain was not enough to offset soft
demand in the Portuguese market. EBITDA fell
28.2% to €17.0 million, but was 9.7% higher
like-for-like. Increased plant utilisation in Spain
and efforts to rein in overhead costs boosted
margins for the business.
The Pipes Business delivered a better
performance thanks to the change in strategy
4. RISK MANAGEMENT
Uralita mitigates its exposure to financial risk
through an appropriate framework for the
detection and prevention of risk within the
Group’s Risk Detection System. Therefore, all the
Company’s price, credit, liquidity and cash flow
risk is periodically assessed, monitored and
controlled.
Uralita mitigates its exposure to financial risk
through an appropriate framework for the
detection and prevention of risk within the
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