Fit for the future with a record result in 2008

Bremen, 14 April 2009 +++ The EUROGATE Group closed fiscal 2008 with the best operating result in the company’s 10-year history. The Group increased revenue by 8.4% to EUR 715 million and posted a record profit for the year of EUR 116.5 million, 3.5% above the previous year’s level. The positive earnings development is attributable to a Europe-wide increase in container handling volumes to 14.2 million TEUs. The outlook for the ongoing year, 2009, is determined by the current financial and economic crisis. In light of declining container volumes in Q1 2009, EUROGATE has adapted its human resources and investment planning to reflect the recent volume trend. The top priority is to secure jobs. Enforced redundancies are not planned. With this excellent operating result and an equity ratio of almost 40%, the EUROGATE Group is soundly positioned to meet the challenges posed by the present crisis.

Emanuel Schiffer, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board: „Fiscal 2008 was the best year to date in our company’s history. We achieved a record both in terms of container handling and operating result. Although the full impact of the 2008 financial and economic crisis could not be foreseen, signs of a slowdown in the world economy were already on the horizon from the middle of the year on. In light of this development, EUROGATE initiated a programme at an early stage which is designed to align costs and investments. Since the end of 2008, we have been conducting talks with employee representatives in an effort to organise human resources planning as flexibly as possible and allow us to respond promptly to developments in container handling. Thanks to our early and consistent action, we are now prepared to weather the storm.“

At its locations in Germany, (Bremen, Bremerhaven and Hamburg), the EUROGATE Group had a total of 5,175 employees at the end of 2008, which was 660 more than in 2007. Europe-wide, the Group has 8,200 jobs, 1,110 more than at the end of the previous period. The top priority for human resources policy in 2009 is to secure the jobs created in the previous years. EUROGATE is in continuous dialogue with the works councils and trade unions. At the Bremerhaven location, following the already implemented flexibilisation measures, the company is now planning to introduce short-time work probably from 2 May 2009. In Hamburg, short-time work is currently not an issue. Here, the flexibilisation measures that have already been introduced are for the time being sufficient. Enforced layoffs are not planned.

Of the planned investments amounting to EUR 470 million for 2008, in fact only EUR 238.4 million was invested. This sum above all included investments for container cranes and van carriers, site stabilisation, power supply systems as well as building conversions and expansions. In 2009, non-essential investments will be postponed. The company is adhering to major investment projects such as the westward expansion of the EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg and construction of the new EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven in line with plans. Furthermore, EUROGATE is expecting globalisation to continue once the economic crisis has been ridden out and anticipates renewed growth in container traffic. Many of the world’s economies still have high growth potential, from which the container industry will benefit in the future.

For this reason, EUROGATE is continuing to push for the deepening of the shipping channels in the rivers Weser and Elbe. Road construction projects such as the building of the A22 coastal motorway must be realised without delay. Another key project is the upgrading of Kiel Canal, which is decisive in enabling the German North Sea Ports to secure their competitive edge over the West Ports for container transport services to the Baltic. Politicians must ensure that the North German locations are able to remain competitive despite the crisis. For this reason, EUROGATE expressly supports the „National Port Concept“ as part of the Federal Ministry of Transport’s master plan for goods traffic and logistics.

EUROGATE is continuously looking for new ways to secure its competitiveness and in doing so relies on quality and innovation. For example, investments in 2008 contributed to improving handling quality. In addition to this, the issue of container security is also continuing to gain in importance. EUROGATE is cooperating with the companies Astrium Space Transportation, a subsidiary of the aerospace company EADS, and Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, a forwarding and logistics services provider, on a project entitled „SeCureSystem“. Linking up basic technologies such as RFID and GPS enables the security of a container to be monitored along the entire transport chain anywhere in the world. This solution has already been submitted to the European Commission in Brussels and is an acknowledged alternative to the screening of all import containers which is being demanded by the US.

Eco-management is another key issue. EUROGATE considers protection of the earth’s resources to be a management imperative and in doing so procures itself an innovation lead. One example: EUROGATE Technical Services' automotive engineering profit centre is working together with auto manufacturers on the development of especially low-fuel and low-noise vehicles. This enabled all vehicles to be converted to diesel-electric drive as early as in 2003, resulting in massive savings of hydraulic oil. EUROGATE is also making investments of its own in new vehicle development. This year, for example, a research project will be launched that will look into how a hybrid or hydrogen drive might be able to reduce air pollution even further.

The financial and economic crisis is also impacting the international locations in the EUROGATE network. However, there is also some positive news. Despite the financial and economic crisis, the CICT – Cagliari International Container Terminal belonging to the Contship Italia Group was able to increase its container handling volume in Q1 by 413.9% due to the acquisition of a new customer (the consortium between the Grand Alliance and the shipping line UASC). The EUROGATE Tanger Container Terminal, which took up operations in September 2008 and by the end of the year had already handled 64,178 TEUs, succeeded in acquiring a new customer, the Japanese shipping line MOL.

„No one is currently in a position to offer a reliable forecast for fiscal 2009,“ says Emanuel Schiffer. „In the first quarter of the year we recorded significant reductions in container handling volumes at our locations. This development affects revenue and earnings forecasts. However, we are looking confidently to the future, because our company is well-positioned to weather the current financial and economic storm. For 2009, we are anticipating continued profitable business development.“