Indesit 2007 Net Profits up 38%

In the 4th quarter of 2007 Indesit Company sales reached €925m, up 1.3% on 4th quarter 2006. Sales in 2007 amounted to €3,438m, up 5.8% on 2006. The Group’s net profits in 2007 were €105m, up 38.0%. Net financial indebtedness also improved significantly, falling to €331m (€424 in 2006). Non-recurring charges in 2007 amounted to €27m (€39m in 2006). These were the figures that Indesit Company’s CEO Marco Milani presented to the board of directors, chaired by Vittorio Merloni, meeting yesterday in Milan to approve the Group’s consolidated results for the 4th quarter and examine the preliminary figures for year-end 2007.

'The good results for 2007 reward all the team work that’s gone into consolidating our European leadership,' said Indesit Company’s chairman Vittorio Merloni. 'We are satisfied with the objectives achieved and can look with confidence at our future. We will continue to invest heavily in research to develop new technology that focuses on consumers’ needs and on those of the environment.'

Results for 4th quarter 2007 (4th quarter 2006 figures in brackets)*
Sales: €925.3m (up 1.3%, €913.6m).
EBITDA* before non-recurring charges: €96.4m (down 12.8%, €110.6m).
Ratio to sales: 10.4% (12.1%).
EBITDA: €88.7m (down 10.4%, €99.1m).
Ratio to sales: 9.6% (10.8%).
EBIT* before non-recurring charges: €64.3m (down 13.0%, €74.0m).
Ratio to sales: 7.0% (8.1%).
EBIT: €56.6m (down 9.4%, €62.5m).
Ratio to sales: 6.1% (6.8%).
Net profits, Group interest: €37.4m (up 9.4%, €34.1m).

Key preliminary results for 2007 (2006 values in brackets)*
Sales at 31st December 2007: €3,437.8m (up 5.8%, €3,248.6m).
EBITDA* before non-recurring charges: €360.8m (up 5.5%, €341.9m).
Ratio to sales: 10.5% (10.5%).
EBITDA: €333.4m (up 10.0%, €303.0m).
Ratio to sales: 9.7% (9.3%).
L’EBIT* before non-recurring charges: €219.7m (up 10.3%, €199.1m).
Ratio to sales: 6.4% (6.1%).
EBIT: €192.2m (up 20.0%, €160.2m).
Ratio to sales: 5.6% (4.9%).
Net profits, Group interest: €105.4m (up 38%, €76.4m).
Net financial indebtedness: €331.1m (€423.6m).

* Definitions of performance indicators:
EBIT: operating margin;
EBITDA: operating margin before amortization and depreciation;
Net working capital: inventories plus trade receivables plus trade payables.
Net financial indebtedness: the balance of current financial assets, cash and cash equivalents, payables to banks and other financial payables, medium/long-term financial payables and other non-current financial assets.

Main awards in 2007
Russian consumers voted Indesit Company brands as best overall in the Narodnaya Marka awards. In the United States, the TV commercial for the Aqualtis washing machine ('Undersea World') won a prestigious Grand Clio Award. The new Hotpoint-Ariston 48 cm oven won the Best Technology Award at the Grand Designs Live in London for its avant-garde technological solutions. The Moon washing machine was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Innovation and the Janus de l’Industrie for the best design and for offering solutions that combine innovation and intuitive simplicity: these prestige awards were given by the Institut Français du Design. The Moon was also judged Kitchen Product of the Year at the 2007 Designer Awards, a major awards organisation in the United Kingdom, for real innovation offered to consumers and as an example of a design in which there is perfect balance between technological features and simplicity of use. Lastly, the Moon received the Zlota Villa award from an authoritative Polish interior design magazine for its innovative design.

2007 also saw awards for social responsibility. The Company won the first Intellectual Capital Value award for human capital development, ie. for its commitment to helping people develop in terms of motivation, skills and attitudes. The Jonathan-Indesit Company project received a special mention at the Sodalitas Social Awards for the outstanding social content and value of its programme. Further, Neriman Ulsever, Indesit Company’s human resources manager, received a Golden Apple at the Bellisario Awards in recognition of her personnel management policy at Indesit Company, based on a cross cultural approach that creates a corporate identity enabling everyone to feel part of 'one single company'. The eco-sustainability of the new Hotpoint-Ariston dishwasher (triple A class), the reduction of cardboard packaging and workplace health and safety management at the Manisa plant in Turkey won the Company a special mention at the 2007 Ecohitech Awards.

Also in 2007, Vittorio Merloni was given the Keynes-Sraffa Award by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the United Kingdom for his contribution to the growth in reciprocal investments between Italy and the UK. Further, during the Italo-Russian summit at Bari, Vittorio Merloni received the Presidents’ Prize for Indesit Company’s entrepreneurial activities in Russia. Indesit’s year closed with the 2008 European Excellence Award, in Berlin, for the originality of its innovative company intranet, Insight.

A meeting of the board of directors has been fixed for 20th March to approve the consolidated financial statements and the separate parent company statements and to call a shareholders’ meeting.

Web: http://www.indesitcompany.com