Hanover, 07 August 2008. The operating result (EBIT) of Hoeft & Wessel AG, Hanover, tripled in the first half of 2008 to reach EUR 0.9 million compared with the previous year as at 30 June 2007 (EUR 0.3 million). Substantial deliveries in the Ticketing Division made a particularly valuable contribution to this exceptional increase. Sales revenues, at EUR 42.5 million as at 30 June 2008, remained at the previous year’s high level. Due to the weaker trend of the British pound sterling (GBP), Group sales were down by about 4 per cent.

In the first half of 2008 our intake of new orders on our books totalled EUR 44.1 m. The order portfolio thus increased to EUR 117.5 m. By allowing for large-scale orders to be spread across several years, this substantial portfolio also facilitates more reliable planning.

“These good half-year figures affirm our forecast for fiscal 2008 as a whole. At the end of the year we expect sales revenues to increase to about EUR 108 m, along with a further improvement in our operating result”, said Hansjoachim Oehmen, Chairman of the Management Board of Hoeft & Wessel AG, commenting on the company’s half-year financials.

The Ticketing segment, which provides system solutions and products under the Almex label, recorded a substantial 40 per cent increase in sales revenues. Partial deliveries to German and Austrian Rail and deliveries of check-in terminals to the Emirates airline made a key contribution in this regard. EBIT rose to reach EUR 1 million. This business segment is also in good shape as regards new orders: the largest Danish bus operator ordered a full Ticketing package solution, the Finnish national railway placed an order for 900 mobile vending devices for train attendants, and Deutsche Lufthansa ordered the successor generation of check-in terminals.

In the Parking business segment run by the UK subsidiary Metric, sales revenues were down by 17 per cent, of which roughly 12 per cent was attributable to exchange-rate fluctuations of the GBP. The operating result turned out slightly negative at ‑EUR 0.2 million. Aside from the weakness of the GBP, in particular higher material costs for parking terminals led to a narrower margin. A positive contribution to earnings is expected to be achieved in the second half of the year.

In the mobile data capture division run under the brand name Skeye, sales revenues were down by approx. 14 per cent year-on-year. A large-scale order placed by the Swiss Post had caused revenues to rise considerably in the first half of 2007. The operating result (EBIT) came to EUR 1.1 million. In the first half of 2008, e.g. a rollout and installation of 700 handhelds took place for Woolworth, a new customer.  

IFRS Half-year Report [.pdf]

About the Company:
Hoeft & Wessel AG, Hanover, established by the entrepreneurs of the same name in 1978, is a hardware and software manufacturer specialising in ticketing, mobile data recording, and parking systems. Listed on the stock market since 1998, the company today is an SME with sales revenues of around EUR 100 million and a workforce of 500 employees. Each year around EUR 8 million is invested in the Research & Development division, which sets the pace in the company’s technological orientation and employs about a third of the total workforce. In Europe, Hoeft & Wessel with its Almex group of products is among the leading providers of ticketing and telematics systems for public transportation and check-in terminals for the airline industry. In Germany the company’s Skeye product is the market leader in mobile data recording in the retail sector, and in the United Kingdom, its Metric Parking brand is the largest provider of parking space management systems. In line with its internationalisation strategy, the company operating in the business-to-business segment already generates around 40 per cent of sales revenues abroad. In addition to Europe, the United States is one of the key target regions.