TenCate reports good order book position for protective fabrics

31 Oct '08

7 min read

In Europe sales of vehicle armour were at a higher level in the third quarter compared with the same period in the previous year. In the United States, following the acquisition of Composix, there has been considerable sales growth in vehicle armour (including the MRAP programme).

Sales in Europe in the field of aerospace composites grew strongly, particularly as a result of the start-up of the production of the Airbus A380.

The acquisition of Phoenixx strengthens the technology position of TenCate in the aerospace market. There is great interest in this technology. In the future there are real opportunities in both the aviation sector and aerospace. This has involved investments and costs for developments and qualification.

Within the entire Advanced Textiles & Composites sector there is a high degree of innovation and product development, which forms an important basis for further growth in the future.

Geosynthetics & Grass:
The sales of the Geosynthetics & Grass sector increased in the third quarter of 2008 to €145.7 million (in autonomous terms +7%). The currency effect on sales amounted to -5% in the third quarter. EBITA was €12.1 million in the third quarter. The EBITA margin in this quarter declined slightly.

Although the American market for geosynthetics continued to develop adversely, TenCate was able to strengthen its market position. There was growth in the volume of TenCate Geotube systems. The European markets displayed a varied picture, depending on the country. On balance, however, there was some growth as a result of the rapid development of the East European market. The Asian markets continued to perform well.

The slight decline in the EBITA margin of the Geosynthetics & Grass sector in the third quarter can be attributed principally to the price increase in raw materials markets (PE, PP). In the fourth quarter these prices, by contrast, have declined sharply.

In addition, there is some restraint within the synthetic turf market due to the financing opportunities in the sector, which are becoming tighter. The situation on the financial markets occurred at an extremely unfavourable moment for the synthetic turf market, in view of the fact that the season peaks in the period from August to October inclusive. Nevertheless, moderate growth is expected.

In view of the current uncertainties in the market, cost measures have also been taken at the Grass group in order to be able to achieve over time the objective in respect of further growth of the result and EBITA margin in this sector (EBITA margin of at least 10%).

TenCate

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