Turnover of Gamma Lifestyle Fabrics sector rise

01 Aug '08

5 min read

Nevertheless, turnover rose by 4% on a comparable basis, partly because of growth in the Asia Pacific region, where the business unit primarily delivered filter products for the mining industry. In April Filtration acquired Crosible Filtration Ltd., a distributor of filter products in Canada, strengthening the business unit's position in that region. All Canadian filtration activities will be concentrated in this company.

Even though turnover rose by 2% on a comparable basis, Coating & Composites was also adversely affected by currency movements. In the duraskin product group (tents and roofing materials) the business unit supplied coated fabric for the roof of the Johannesburg stadium in South Africa. This country will host the 2010 world football championships.

Results of the seemee product group (printable media fabric) improved, partly due to the supply of coated fabric for all the FIFA banners used during the European football championships in Switzerland and Austria. The performance of the ptfe-solutions product group (PTFE-coated glass fibres for industrial applications) was at the same level as last year.

Lifestyle Fabrics:
Turnover of the Lifestyle Fabrics sector rose to EUR 144 million (2007: EUR 140 million). Currency movements had an effect of -5%. Organic growth of the sector's turnover was 8%.

EBITA rose to EUR 11.8 million (2007: EUR 11.3 million). Increased price pressure and lower volumes at Sleep Care Fabrics were offset by an upward trend at Exotic Fabrics. Organic growth of EBITA was 5%. EBITA as a percentage of turnover amounted to 8.2% (2007: 8.0%).

Turnover at Sleep Care Fabrics decreased by 7% on a comparable basis. As a result of the stagnating housing market, the business unit was confronted with lower volumes in both the United States and Europe and faced adverse currency movements.

Additionally, Sleep Care Fabrics had to contend with rapidly declining demand for woven mattress fabrics and increasing demand for knitted products, resulting in overcapacity in Europe in the area of woven products.

The business unit has also been faced with downward price pressure and lower volumes for some time, which calls for further measures within Sleep Care Fabrics in Europe. At this moment, no concrete announcements can be made with respect to personnel.

In China and Australia the business unit performed well. In the area of innovation, the business unit was able to introduce yet another new product: BugShield, an innovative, washable, environmentally-friendly mattress fabric that repels bedbugs.

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