"Continued improvement in Boliden´s remaining operations"

"Continued improvement in Boliden's remaining operations" · The structural transaction between Boliden and Outokumpu was completed as planned at the end of December 2003. The transaction involved the acquisition by Boliden of Outokumpu's zinc and copper mining and smelting operations and the sale of the fabrication and technology sales operations to Outokumpu. The new Boliden commenced operations on 1st January 2004. · Turnover for the remaining Boliden operations (Mining Operations and Smelting Operations) totalled SEK 7,153 million (SEK 7,127 m) for the full year 2003, and SEK 1,973 million (SEK 1,651 m) for the fourth quarter. · Earnings after net financial items for Boliden's remaining operations improved to SEK 327 million (SEK 144 m) for the full year 2003, and to SEK 160 million (SEK 105 m) for the fourth quarter. · Profit after tax for the remaining operations totalled SEK 596 million (SEK 166 m), which corresponds to an EPS of SEK 6.92 (SEK 1.94) for the full year 2003. The profit after tax for the fourth quarter was SEK 257 million (SEK 108 m), corresponding to an EPS of SEK 2.96 (SEK 1.26). · Cash flow for Boliden's remaining operations was SEK 697 million (SEK -32 m) for the full year 2003. · The Equity Ratio increased to 30.7 (24.2) percent while the Debt/Equity ratio improved to 147 (183) percent at the end of 2003. The rights issue planned for the first quarter of 2004 will further improve these key ratios. · Turnover for the Boliden Group including divested operations totalled SEK 9,545 million (SEK 9,556 m) for the full year and SEK 2,583 million (SEK 2,304 m) for the fourth quarter. · Earnings after net financial items for the Boliden Group including divested operations totalled SEK -251 million (SEK 111 m) for the full year 2003. Earnings after net financial items for the fourth quarter were SEK -331 million (SEK 78 m). The result for the fourth quarter was negatively affected by a substantially lower earnings trend than anticipated in the divested Business Area Fabrication. The previously announced capital loss of SEK 394 million, which also includes provisions for future guarantees relating to the operations divested, also had a negative effect on the result. At the same time, the figure was boosted by the positive trend in the Business Area Mining Operations. · Profit after tax for the Boliden Group including divested operations amounted to SEK 13 million (SEK 132 m), while the figure for the fourth quarter was SEK -237 million (SEK 80 m). · The cash flow for the Group including divested operations was SEK 611 million (SEK -14 m) for the full year 2003 and SEK 577 million (SEK 466 m) for the fourth quarter. Stockholm, 10th February 2004 Jan Johansson President and CEO Boliden AB (publ), company registration number: 556051-4142 This Interim Report has been prepared in accordance with the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council's RR 22 Interim Reporting recommendation. The accounting principles and methods of calculation comply with the recommendations and guidelines issued by the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council. The Interim Report has not been subject to specific examination by the company's auditors. Contact persons for further information: Jan Johansson, President & CEO Tel +46 8 610 16 02 jan.c.johansson@boliden.se Mobile +46 70 555 02 02 Ulf Söderström, VP, Public Relations Tel +46 8 610 15 57 ulf.soderstrom@boliden.se Mobile +46 70 618 95 95 Jan Öhman, CFO Tel +46 8 610 15 33 jan.ohman@boliden.se Mobile +46 70 624 19 05 Boliden's homepage: www.boliden.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/02/10/20040210BIT00200/wkr0001.DOC The full report http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/02/10/20040210BIT00200/wkr0002.pdf The full report