PDF, 1.2 MB - Pfleiderer AG

38 being focused: being better
Sales
The European market in which Pfleiderer was active with URSA ® brand insulation material in
2002 has a total annual volume of around 70 million m3 . With a sales volume of around
11.7 million m3 , the URSA ® brand has a market share of 17 percent in these countries. The
biggest share of the market for the URSA ® brand is in Eastern Europe, where it holds around
20 percent. This is an increase of around 1 percent over 2001. Pfleiderer Insulation Technology’s
share of the domestic market in Germany is largely stable, at nearly 16 percent.
Germany is the most important market for the Business Unit Central (Switzerland, Germany,
Denmark), accounting for sales of URSA ® brand products of 2.7 million m3 . However,
sales were around 10 percent down on the previous year in this market due to the recession in
the construction industry.
The Business Unit West (France, Benelux, Netherlands) experienced pleasing growth in
operations. Sales in France, the biggest western European market for URSA ® brand products,
grew by around 13 percent in 2002 over the previous year.
In the markets of the Business Unit East (including Russia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania,
Slovenia, Austria, and Italy) sales were up by around 24 percent in 2002 on the previous year.
Utilization of production capacity in Pfleiderer Insulation Technology was good and as
scheduled in 2002. In the first half of 2002, major repairs to glass smelting furnaces, necessary
every four to five years, were carried out at the Tschudowo (Russia) and Salgotarjan
(Hungary) plants. Production downtime was used in both insulation plants to extend capacities.
Prices
Average prices for insulation material per m3 fluctuated greatly in Europe. This is largely
due to the different composition of the product ranges on offer. In western Europe, an average
16.24 euros per m3 was recorded, while the average price in central Europe came to
25.73 euros. In eastern Europe, the average price obtained was 16.21 euros per m3 .
Sales/Results
The Consolidated Financial Statements in this Report show results for the Insulation Technology
Business Center up to November 30, 2002 under “Discontinued operations”, as this business
center was sold with effect from November 30, 2002. Up to the reporting cutoff date, the
Insulation Technology Business Center had total sales of 207.5 million euros. Earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came to 30.2 million euros for the first
eleven months of 2002, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) came to 19.6 million
euros (excluding the suspension of amortization in accordance with US GAAP).