Year 2009 Results: First Loss Making Year in Peikko's History

Peikko Group’s net sales dropped by 36% in 2009 to 73.5 million EUR (115 million EUR in 2008). During Q4/2008 and Q1/2009 Peikko’s average raw material price dropped more than 60%. In 2009 Peikko’s core markets in non-residential construction dropped between 5 % to 70%. Many Peikko customers e.g. in Northern Europe lost more than 50% of their 2008 revenues in 2009, several of them making heavy losses as well. Situation in many markets was not just bad, but horrible, particularly in the pre-cast sector. The only Peikko market where volumes did not drop drastically was the German-speaking part of Europe.

The year 2009 was historical in the sense that it was the very first year in Peikko’s history of 45 years that Peikko did not make a profit. The operating loss was 3.6 M€. The losses were due to sharp volume decreases, devaluation of inventory values and the decision to maintain Peikko’s European sales and engineering network, which covers over 25 countries.

“We are seeing signs of recovery in multiple markets during March-April of this year and very recently we have signed important project contracts with our Deltabeams. Our streamlined operations and organization are now very efficient and we are slowly recovering our growth path and should reach an operating profit in 2010. While this year we concentrate on further developing our operations within the EU, we shall also continue investing in our recently started manufacturing sites in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Canada”, states Topi Paananen, CEO of Peikko Group Corporation.

Peikko Group – Mill. EUR 2009 2008

20092008

Net Sales

73,5

115,1

- 36 %

Operating profit (EBIT)

-3,6

7,8


Balance Sheet total

69,1

74,2

- 7 %





Personnel (average)

736

770

- 4 %

Further information:

Topi Paananen, CEO, Peikko Group Corporation, Tel. + 358 50 384 3001

Peikko is a Finnish family-owned company specializing in composite beams and fastening products for concrete connections. Peikko Group Corporation has subsidiaries in Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The production facilities of Peikko Group are located in Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Peikko Group employs more than 700 people. Further information: www.peikko.com