Shareholders’ meeting approves financial statements for 2009

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 13:40

Milan , 20 April 2010 - The shareholders of Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) met today under the chairmanship of Gilberto Benetton in ordinary and extraordinary sessions.

Approval of the financial statements for 2009

The Meeting examined and approved Autogrill S.p.A.’s financial statements for 2009.Consolidated revenues in 2009 reached €5,728.4m, in line with the €5,794.5m posted in 2008 (down 1.1%). Ebitda rose to €606.3m, up 3.4% from €586.3m in 2008. Net profit for the Group after advance application of IFRS3R(1) amounted to €37m against a pro forma €83.7m in 2008, after net financial charges of €94.7m, taxes of €104.7m and minority interest in profit of €14.4m.Cash generation stood at €263.6m (up 149.9% on €105.5m in 2008), enabling net financial indebtedness to be cut by €233.2m to €1,934.5m at 31st December 2009 against €2,167.7m at 31st December 2008. “In 2009, the Company reacted to the crisis with a series of measures to increase efficiency, defend profitability and maximize cash generation. Investments were redefined in keeping with commercial potential and optimisation of resources, yet without compromising our capacity for development ,” said Autogrill chairman Gilberto Benetton. “1st quarter 2010 saw a gradual recovery in volumes of spending and traffic flows with respect to the previous year. Clear signals of recovery are being seen in all the Group’s business areas.”

(1) IFRS3 Revised (issued under Regulation 495/2009, 3rd June 2009, and published in the European Union Official Gazette on 12th June 2009) is intended to improve financial reporting. The new reporting standard allows a higher valuation of intangibles arising from acquisitions (in Autogrill’s case, concession contracts). Amortization of such higher values lowers profits. The Company adopted IFRS3 Revised in advance to apply it to its acquisitions of retail businesses completed in 2008 (WDF and Aldeasa). All companies will have to apply said standard from 2010 onwards.