Press Release
December 3, 2001.
HANOVER - Preussag, the world's leading tourism and services group, posted third quarter results for the current
financial year that continue the good development in its business reported in the first half. The results of the
divisions rose clearly and reached 832 million Euro after the first nine months of the financial year - up 21 per
cent year-on-year. Tourism, the Group's most important division, made a significant contribution to this positive
development with an increase in profits of nearly 29 per cent. At 18.3 billion Euro, the Group turnover was up
three per cent on the same period the previous year.
"The development of profits in the first three quarters shows that the Group has gained in stable earnings
power thanks to its core tourism business, as well as the energy and logistics segments," says Dr. Michael
Frenzel, chairman of the Preussag AG executive board. "We established the necessary structures required to
achieve this in recent months. They enable us to react flexibly and in an earnings-oriented way to further developments
affecting the environment in which tourism operates."
Development in turnover
The Group generated a turnover of 7.4 billion Euro in the third quarter. The accumulated Group turnover after the
first nine months of the 2001 financial year rose to 18.3 billion Euro, an increase of three per cent compared
to the same period the previous year.
The tourism division generated a turnover of 4.6 billion Euro in the third quarter, up 11 per cent year-on-year.
While turnover in the Central European sector rose by 13 per cent to 2.9 billion Euro, turnover in the Northern
European sector was 1.7 billion Euro, an increase of around eight per cent on the figure reported for the previous
year.
Accumulated turnover in tourism in the first nine months of the year rose by 22 per cent year-on-year to 10.6 billion
Euro. However, the informative character of a comparison with last year's figures is restricted because the Northern
Europe sector in the third quarter 2000 consisted of the Thomas Cook Group, which belonged to the Group at the
time, and the first consolidation of Thomson Travel Group.
At 1.0 billion Euro, the turnover generated by the logistics division in the third quarter remained stable in comparison
with last year; accumulated turnover in the first three quarters stood at 2.9 billion Euro. The industrial activities
in the first nine months generated a turnover of 4.6 billion Euro, lower overall than the previous year.
Results by divisions
At 485 million Euro, the profits generated by the divisions in the third quarter were, as expected, the best figures
in this financial year. In addition to the good development of business in the divisions, this was attributable
to the seasonal high profit contribution of the tourism division. Accumulated profits generated by the divisions
in the first nine months totalled 832 million Euro, an increase of 21 per cent year-on-year. The consequences of
the events on 11 September only partly affected business results in the third quarter and therefore only had limited
overall effects.
In the third quarter, the tourism division generated a profit of 528 million Euro, reflecting the good business
in the high season months of July, August and September. Accumulated results per 30 September totalled 604 million
Euro, up 29 per cent year-on-year.
The logistics division reported another successful performance in the third quarter and recorded a profit of 76
million Euro. At 251 million Euro, the profit generated in the first nine months of the financial year were up
36 per cent on last year's figures.
At 51 million Euro, the energy sector also reported good quarterly earnings. Accumulated profit totalled 241 million
Euro to date, an increase of five per cent year-on-year. The results posted by the building engineering sector
continued to be adversely affected by the economic weakness in the construction industry. The associated detrimental
impact on sales of building engineering products weighed down the results in the first three quarters with - 42
million Euro. The results of the trading sector, which is also on the divestiture list, were below the figures
posted the previous year with a profit of 27 million Euro.
Prospects
The picture is still mixed for the 2001/02 tourism winter season which began in November. After a good start, bookings
dropped considerably following the events of 11 September. In the meantime, the demand for holidays up to and over
Christmas and New Year have again started to rise markedly. In Germany, they have reached the same level as the
previous year.
In contrast, there is still a noticeable hesitation in booking holidays commencing in the new year. The trend towards
short-term booking is reflected in the current level of bookings in all source markets. It is therefore only possible
to make limited forecasts on the further development of the 2001/02 winter season and the outlook for the 2002
summer season.
"The good performance to date in the tourism and logistics divisions, and the energy sector, has laid the
foundations for a successful 2001 financial year. Balancing all opportunities and risks for the remaining quarter,
and in spite of the current economic uncertainties, we expect the Group results for the ongoing financial year
to be considerably up on the previous year," says Frenzel.