PONSSE'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2002
PONSSE OYJ STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10 FEBRUARY, 2003 14:00 P.M. 1(10)
PONSSE'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2002
Ponsse Groups turnover totalled EUR 133.2 million (EUR 123.8m in
2001), of which foreign operations accounted for 57.8 per cent
(61.7% in 2001). The Groups operating profit amounted to EUR 9.4
million (EUR 9.7m), equivalent to 7.1 per cent (7.8%) of turnover.
The result after financial items was EUR 9.8 million (EUR 9.1m).
Ponsses equity ratio remained almost unchanged at 52.4 per cent
(53.3%). Earnings per share totalled EUR 0,99 (EUR 0.91).
The Board of Directors is to recommend to the Annual General Meeting
that a dividend of EUR 0.65 per share be paid for 2002.
GENERAL
Despite a highly challenging year on the forest machine market at
home and abroad, Ponsse Groups operations remained steady and
profitable during 2002. The year under review saw two new additions
to the new range of models launched in 2001: the Buffalo Dual
harwarder and the Wisent forwarder. Although the operating profit
for the year under review was slightly below that of 2001, it can
still be termed good as a whole. The Group had a very healthy order
stock at year-end.
TURNOVER AND RESULT
Group turnover rose by 7.5 per cent on the year to EUR 133.2 million
(EUR 123.8 million). Turnover growth was weighted towards Q1 and Q4
in all the companys markets. Although an air of expectation marked
the forest machine markets during the spring and summer, September
saw the home market in particular pick up strongly after a
lackadaisical summer.
Exports and foreign business operations accounted for 57.8 per cent
(61.7%) of turnover. Analysis shows that Finland accounted for 42.2
per cent (38.3%), the rest of Europe for 37.0 per cent (35.1%),
North America for 18.7 per cent (20.7%) and the rest of the world
for 2.1 per cent (5.9% in) of Group turnover. Exports were down
mainly owing to changes taking place in the dealer organization,
business expectations in the forest sector - especially in certain
export countries - and general economic uncertainty, which was also
reflected on the market for forest machines.
During the year under review, Ponsse secured new orders worth EUR
142.0 million (EUR 122.5 million). At year-end, the Groups order
stock was EUR 32.1 million (EUR 23.2 million). Based on obeyed
practices, the minimum purchase commitments of dealers will be
include to the order stock.
Group operating profit amounted to EUR 9.4 million (EUR 9.7
million), equivalent to 7.1 per cent (7.8%) of turnover. Compared to
2001, the operating profit was depressed by higher R&D costs,
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investments in expanding distribution channels and increasingly
fierce competition in our main market areas.
The Groups net financing expenses totalled EUR 0.2 million (- MEUR
0.6 million) during the year under review. The result after
financial items was EUR 9.8 million (EUR 9.1 million). There were
no extraordinary items for 2002 or for the comparison year.
Group profit for the 2002 financial year was EUR 6.9 million (MEUR
6.4 million ). The parent companys profit for the 2002 financial
year was EUR 7.2 million (EUR 6.6 million).
FINANCIAL SITUATION
The consolidated balance sheet total at 31 December 2002 was EUR
73.9 million (EUR 68.2 million). The balance sheet total rose owing
to major machine deliveries scheduled for the turn of the year and
fairly high stocks.
The Groups interest-bearing debts totalled EUR 22.2 million (EUR
20.2 million). The equity ratio was 52.4 per cent (53.3%).
Liquidity remained good throughout the year under review. At year-
end, the Groups cash assets totalled EUR 12.0 million (EUR 8.9
million). To maintain financing flexibility and balance seasonal
fluctuations, Ponsse has the use of finance credit agreements of
which EUR 7.5 million remained unexercised at the end of the year.
Total contingent liabilities related to outside customer financing
and refinancing commitments amounted to EUR 7.4 million (EUR 6.8
million) at year-end.
INVESTMENTS
Fixed asset investments totalled EUR 2.5 million (EUR 1.4 million).
Investments were primarily in the purchase of an R&D building, that
was earlier leased, in the immediate vicinity of the Vieremä plant,
information technology and the construction of new business premises
for the companys US subsidiary.
MARKETS AND SALES
Uncertainty in the global economy continued throughout 2002, with
greatly conflicting views as to how long the downturn is likely to
last and when economic recovery will begin. Ponsses business was
not immune to the downturn, which was evidenced by slowing demand in
some markets and fiercer competition in general.
Production volumes of the new range of models introduced in 2001 and
quality targets were successfully met during the year under review.
In 2002, the number of machines manufactured rose to 330 (306).
These new forest machines met the criteria set and feedback from
contractors has been unreservedly enthusiastic. Customers
particularly appreciate the superior productivity and dependability
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of new models. Another positive note from customers is the
considerably improved fuel economy brought about by the use of
Mercedes-Benz engines.
The year under review saw Ponsse further strengthen its position as
a sought-after, dependable supplier of forest machines. Despite a
difficult year on the sales front, the number of forest machines
sold was encouraging and the company successfully maintained its
good financial performance in the face of fiercer competition.
The companys distribution channels abroad are subsidiaries focusing
on sales and after-sales on the one hand and dealers on the other.
Changes in the Canadian dealer network took place towards the end of
2002. In October 2002, Ponsse signed a dealer agreement with
ReadyQuip Sales & Services Ltd of the province of Ontario. Notice to
terminate the agreement with Equipement Lacroix Inc. of the province
of Quebec was given in September and Tanquay Industries began as
Ponsses new dealer in Quebec in January 2003. Alpa Equipment
Company Ltd continues to be Ponsses dealer in the province of New
Brunswick.
Other major dealers operate in Germany, the Baltic area, St
Petersburg in Russia, Spain, Portugal, Chile and New Zealand. Aside
from these, Ponsse also makes direct sales to other countries.
Ponsse has subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, France, the UK and the
USA.
PONSSE AB
Despite an overall decline in the Swedish forest machine market,
Ponsse AB successfully increased the number of machines delivered
compared to 2001. The companys turnover was EUR 13.0 million (EUR
10.5 million). Benny Sondell was appointed the companys new
managing director effective 1 January 2003. Mr Sondell previous
worked as regional sales manager in North Sweden. Ponsse ABs
previous managing director, Eero Lukkarinen, took up the post of
export manager in the parent company. The company has been in
business since 1994 and strengthened its sales and after-sales
organization during the year under review.
PONSSE AS
Ponsses Norwegian subsidiary reported a 2002 turnover of EUR 6.2
million, the same as in 2001. The subsidiary has been operating
since 1998 and the year under review saw a review of its
organization in a bid to respond better to the needs and wishes of
its customers. Environmental conditions place tough demands on
machine quality, efficiency and dependability. Customers have highly
commended Ponsses forest machines for their performance. The
companys managing director is Lyder Hove Ellevold.
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PONSSÉ S.A.
Ponsses French subsidiary has been operating since 1995 and is
headquartered in Gondreville in Northeast France. Ponssé S.A.
reported a turnover EUR 9.8 million (EUR 10.3 million) for 2002. The
new range of forest machines has been very favourably received also
in France. Designed by the subsidiary, regional contractors and
Ponsses product development division, the new harvester head for
felling deciduous trees has responded well to special local needs.
Tapio Ingervo assumed the post of Ponssé S.A.s new managing
director effective 1 September 2002.
PONSSE UK LTD
Encouraging progress was made in the UK forest machine market during
the year under review. Ponsse UK Ltd was established in 1996 and its
turnover rose to EUR 10.2 million (EUR 7.3 million) on the year. The
year before last, Ponsse UK moved to new office facilities at
Lockerbie in Scotland. These new premises have been shown to be both
practical and well located. The UK subsidiary strengthened its sales
organization during the year under review. The companys managing
director is Jukka Karjalainen.
PONSSE USA INC
As expected, the cut-to-length harvesting method prevalent in the
Nordic countries continued to spread during the year under review.
The companys turnover rose to EUR 20.8 million (EUR 19.2 million).
Founded in 1995, the subsidiary is headquartered in the city of
Rhinelander in the state of Wisconsin. Ponsse Inc.s main market
areas are in the area around the Great Lakes and the southern states
of Alabama and Georgia. There is excellent potential to further
increase sales also in future years. Mikko Laurila has served as the
companys managing director since 1 March 2002.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The Groups R&D costs rose by 23.1 per cent on the year to EUR 3.2
million (EUR 2.6 million), accounting for 2.4 per cent (2.1%) of
Group turnover.
At the end of the financial year, a total of 51 people (48), 9.5 per
cent (9.5%) of Group personnel, were employed in R&D.
The year under review saw the launch of two new machine models. The
Buffalo Dual, unveiled at the Silva forestry fair held in Liperi in
late May 2002. This machine is both a harvester and a forwarder,
hence the term harwarder. The front load gate and load bunks are
removed for harvesting and the loader grapple is replaced by an H53
harvester head. Transforming the machine from a harvester to a
forwarder or vice versa takes less than 10 minutes and can be done
on site.
The Wisent forwarder, the other novelty launched during the year
under review, was shown at the Metko forest machine fair held in
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Jämsänkoski in August 2002. The new model is available in six- and
eight-wheel versions and was engineered for manoeuvrability and a
high net weight and load-carrying capacity ratio.
In summer, Ponsses information system unit announced mapping
software and a data transfer system designed for the North American
market. This new application enables full utilization of the
coordination used in the United States and local digital maps in
harvesting. Data transfer from a forestry companys office to the
harvester and vice versa works in the same way as in the Nordic
countries, using Ponsses Opti software. The project was tested in
practice in cooperation with Stora Enso North America (SENA).
In addition, the year under review saw various functional changes
and improvements made to Opti 4G software. The most important of
these relate to the precision of reporting produced by the hardware
and a practical improvement to mapping software, with
diversification and improvements to the function of control software
integrated into the system. A version using inches was innovated for
the export market.
No R&D costs were capitalized.
Intense cooperation between universities, forestry colleges and
forestry companies remained steady during the year.
PERSONNEL
The Group employed an average of 521 (518) persons during the period
under review. At 31 December 2002, the Group employed 536 (507)
people.
The principal training themes during the year under review were
strengthening professional competence and improving teamwork skills.
Highlighting the importance of occupational safety and the
prevention of workplace accidents in particular were also under
major consideration in 2002
QUALITY
The operations development project launched in 2001 was completed
during the year under review. The project depicted the companys
various operations as a detailed process.
Ponsse is committed to complying with the ISO 9001 quality and ISO
14001 environmental management systems. In 2002 we decided to seek
certification in compliance with ISO 9001/2000.
Our main goal in 2003 is to improve operational quality by
developing cooperation between various units in the organization.
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MANAGEMENT AND AUDITORS
Einari Vidgrén (chairman), Ilkka Kylävainio, Heikki Ojala, Samuli
Perttala, Orvo Siimestö, Heikki Tallgren, Juha Vidgrén and Mika
Vidgrén served as members of the Board of Directors during the
financial year.
The Board of Directors convened eight times during the year.
The companys president and CEO is Tommi Ruha MSc (For) and his
deputy is PR manager Juha Vidgrén MSc (Educ).
Mikko Paananen LLM was appointed the companys new CFO effective 1
August 2002. Mr Paananen is also a member of the Management Team.
The Annual General Meeting of 22 March 2002 appointed Authorised
Public Accountants Ernst & Young as the companys auditors, with
Heikki Laitinen APA as the principal auditor.
GROUP RELATIONS
There were no changes in Group structure during the year under
review. The Group includes the subsidiaries Ponsse AB in Sweden,
Ponsse AS in Norway, Ponssé S.A. in France, Ponsse UK Ltd. in the UK
and Ponsse USA Inc. in the USA. Sunit Mobile Oy in Kajaani is an
associated company in which Ponsse has a 34 per cent stake.
SHARE TRADING AND PRICES
Ponsse Oyj shares are listed on the Main List of the Helsinki
Exchanges. The trading code of the companys share on the Helsinki
Exchanges is PON1V. The shares are in the book-entry system.
During the year under review, 466 024 Ponsse shares, 6,7 per cent of
the total, were traded on the Helsinki Exchanges for a total of EUR
4.7 million. The lowest price was EUR 9.45 and the highest EUR
11.40. The shares closed at EUR 10.75 on the year. The market
capitalisation value at 31 December 2002 was EUR 75.3 million.
SHAREHOLDERS
At year-end 2002, Ponsse Oyj has 1 478 shareholders. A total of 228
355 shares, 3,26 per cent of the total shares and votes, were
nominee registered shares and held by foreigners.
MANAGEMENT INTERESTS
At 31 December 2002, members of the Board of Directors and the
companys President and CEO held a total of 4 123 032 Ponsse Oyj
shares, representing 58,9 per cent of the total shares and votes.
INSIDER HOLDING
Under Chapter 5, Section 5 of the Securities Market Act, Ponsse Oyj
keeps a list of insider holdings. This list is available for
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inspection at the Finnish Central Securities Depository Ltd at
Fabianinkatu 14, 00130 Helsinki.
Ponsse Oyj complies with the insider holding regulation A6.24
adopted by the Board of Directors of the Helsinki Exchanges on 28
October 1999.
REDEMPTION OBLIGATION CLAUSE
Under Article 14 of Ponsses Articles of Association, a shareholder
whose share of all the companys shares or the votes conveyed by
shares, either alone or together with other shareholders, achieves
or exceeds ownership of 331/3% or 50% shall be obliged to redeem, on
request, the shares of other shareholders and other securities
entitling thereto under the Companies Act subject to the more
detailed terms and conditions provided for in Article 14.
SHAREHOLDER AGREEMENTS
Ponsse Oyj is not aware of any shareholder agreements related to
ownership of the companys shares or exercising of votes that would
materially affect the value of the companys share.
OUTLOOK FOR THE CURRENT YEAR
The overall market for forest machines is expected to develop
encouragingly, although somewhat modestly compared to last year. It
is thought the mechanisation rate will rise, especially in Eastern
and Central Europe. A more extensive distribution network and
increasingly widespread cut-to-length harvesting are expected to
trigger higher demand in North America.
Ponsse expects turnover to rise in main markets during the current
year. Nevertheless, growth is expected to remain modest given the
current uncertainty surrounding the global economic climate. The
company expects the result for the current year to be better than
that for 2002. Owing to the seasonal fluctuations typical of the
forest machine market, the current years accumulated profits will
be weighted towards the end of the year.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROPOSAL FOR THE DISPOSAL OF PROFIT
Ponsse Oyjs Board of Directors is to recommend to the Annual
General Meeting that a dividend of EUR 0.65 per share be paid for
2002. The record date for the payment of dividend is 25.03.2003.
Dividends will be paid on 1 April 2003.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting will be held at Iisalmi Cultural Centre
on 20 March 2003, commencing at 10 am.
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ANNUAL REPORT
The companys annual report for 2002 will be published during week
11.
PONSSE GROUP
The figures quoted here are audited.
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
2002 2001
TEUR TEUR
Turnover 133 171 123 828
Increase (+)/decrease (-) in stocks of
finished goods and work in progress 1 776 -1 013
Other operating income 1 199 776
Raw materials and services -87 510 -75 831
Staff expenses -22 714 -22 060
Depreciation -2 766 -2 768
Other operating charges -13 776 -13 209
Operating profit 9 380 9 723
Share of results of associated
undertakings 157 68
Financial income
and expenses 265 -623
Profit before extraordinary items 9 802 9 168
Direct taxes -2 894 -2 801
Minority interest -1 -1
Profit for the financial year 6 907 6 366
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
2002 2001
TEUR TEUR
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 1 157 1 549
Tangible assets 13 987 13 960
Investments 495 371
Current assets
Stocks 33 920 30 157
Current receivables 12 358 13 267
Cash in hand and at banks 11 950 8 865
Assets total 73 867 68 169
LIABILITIES
Capital and reserves
Share capital 3 500 3 500
Other capital 35 072 32 770
Minority interest 3 2
Creditors
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Non-current 10 930 13 410
Current 24 362 18 487
Liabilities total 73 867 68 169
Receivables at 31 December 2002 include a deferred tax asset of EUR
438k (EUR 420k at 31 December 2001). Non-current creditors at 31
December 2002 include a deferred tax liability of EUR 952k (EUR
1115k at 31 December 2001).
GIVEN PLEDGES, CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER LIABILITIES
31.12.2002 31.12.2001
TEUR TEUR
1. For own debt
Debts for which mortgages have been pledged as collateral
Loans from credit institutions 13 838 14 420
Given mortgages on land and buildings 3 866 3 826
Given chattel mortgages 2 893 2 893
Mortgages given as pledges total 6 759 6 719
2. Leasing commitments 2 143 2 225
3. Contingent liabilities on behalf of Group companies
Guarantees given on behalf of
Group companies 1 221 575
4. Liabilities arising from derivative contracts
Nominal values
Currency derivatives
Option contracts 1 475 1 812
Foreign exchange forward contracts 12 128 9 958
Fair values
Currency derivates
Option contracts 11 -11
Foreign exchange forward contracts 342 -91
Currency derivative contracts are used only as a hedge against
exchange rate fluctuations.
5. Other Contingent Liabilities
Guarantees given on behalf of others 803 431
Repurchase commitments 6 557 5 895
Other commitments 0 462
Total 7 360 6 788
FINANCIAL KEY INDICATORS
2002 2001
Research and development
expenditure, MEUR 3,2 2,6
Gross capital expenditure on fixed assets,
MEUR 2,5 1,4
% of turnover 1,9 1,2
Average number of staff 520 518
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Order stock, MEUR 32,1 23,2
Equity ratio, % 52,4 53,3
Earnings per share, EUR (EPS) 0,99 0,91
Shareholders' equity per share, EUR 5,51 5,18
Direct taxes in the Profit and Loss Account and the EPS figure
include the equivalent tax on earnings for the period under review.
ORDERS RECEIVED 2002 2001
MEUR MEUR
Ponsse Group 142,0 122,5
INFORMATION BY FOUR-MONTH PERIOD
10-12/01 1-3/02 4-6/02 7-9/02 10-12/02
TEUR TEUR TEUR TEUR TEUR
Turnover 38 439 27 763 30 831 27 509 47 068
Operating profit 2 281 1 624 2 399 1 411 3 946
Result before
extraordinary items 2 217 1 351 2 780 1 546 4 125
Vieremä, 10 February 2003
PONSSE OYJ
Tommi Ruha
President, CEO
Further information:
President, CEO Tommi Ruha, tel. +358 17 768 4621 or +358 400 323 509
CFO Mikko Paananen, tel. +358 17 768 4648 or +358 400 817 036
www.ponsse.com
DISTRIBUTION
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