BE Group’s Annual Report for 2009 published

The Annual Report for BE Group AB (publ) has been published and is available on the Group’s website, www.begroup.com.

In his message from the CEO, entitled “A year of lessons and adaptations”, Lars Bergström commented on the events of 2009: “Times of great uncertainty also offer opportunities. For this reason, we have, over the year, reviewed our strategic ambitions and clarified them. The overarching objective is to advance, clarify and strengthen BE Group’s offering in the value chain between steel producers and our customers. Our ambition is for BE Group to grow more rapidly than the market. This will mainly involve organic growth in the markets where the Group is established. Today, we enjoy a leading position in Sweden and Finland, and have a strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe.” The Group has confronted the weak market situation by adapting its inventory levels and adjusting its costs. The ongoing cost savings programs have progressed as planned and the Group enjoys a stable financial position. “As a consequence of the weak market, an aggressive target was set to reduce our inventories and safeguard positive cash flow. As the crisis deepened, we were forced to extend the cost savings program to approximately SEK 170M for the 2009 full-year.” Under the heading “Outlook for 2010”, the forecast issued in connection with the year-end report is repeated: “Purchase prices and, consequently, BE’s sales prices are expected to rise at the end of the first quarter, thereafter maintaining an upward trend. However, the price trend depends on how production volumes among steel producers are adjusted to current demand levels. Following a difficult year, BE Group now has a favorable cost structure. This position opens opportunities for us that we must make use of to rapidly shift our operations up a gear when demand returns.” The printed Annual Report will be available from the first week of April 2010 and can be ordered via www.begroup.com.

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