1) CARTA DEL PRESIDENTE
Eloi Planes CEO
Fluidra closed the 2011 business year with a consoli- dated growth in sales of 7.4% and a growth in opera- ting profit (EBIT) of 16.7%. There is no doubt that the Group’s consolidated figures are encouraging, particu- larly given the international macroeconomic down- turn we are currently experiencing.
As far as sales by business units are concerned, they have all performed well, but the good performan- ce of the Pool Unit with a growth of 8.4% is worth highlighting, as are the Irrigation and Fluid Handling units with growth rates of 12.6 and 8.1%, respecti- vely, as a result of the Group’s product diversification strategy.
In terms of Cash Flow, the company has had a suc- cessful year for the third year running. On an organic level, €24.3M was generated in free cash flow, which dropped to €21M once the effect of acquiring Aqua had been taken into account.
Net Financial Debt, which includes the €32M allocated to the acquisition of Aqua, was in line with our fore- casts for the end of the year, namely, 174 million euros, which is 2.5 times lower than the NFD/EBITDA.
However, the value of Fluidra shares at the year-end was €1.91 per share, which translates as an overall drop of 18% in 2011. This was brought about by the general lack of confidence by investors in the European eco- nomy, and Spain’s in particular. At Fluidra, we strive daily, both as far as our business affairs and investor re- lations are concerned, to ensure that our shares reflect their real value on the market.
In 2011, we began the year with good prospects thanks both to our organic growth and to the contri- bution made by Aqua Products and Aquatron, which were acquired in the first quarter of the year and who- se performance has demonstrated that the transac- tion was clearly the right choice for us. In July, adverse weather conditions in the whole of Southwest Euro- pe had a negative effect on the performance of the Group. Thus, the expected growth for the year as a whole slowed down right in the middle of our best season. However, our ability to react quickly and our strong balance sheet enabled us to end the year with extremely positive levels of growth given the current climate.
We are currently going through exceptional times and we must therefore take exceptional measures to suc- cessfully overcome the challenges facing us. We are therefore involved in the implementations of projects that, on the one hand, will enable Fluidra to perform as well as it did before the outbreak of the internatio- nal financial crisis and, on the other, to maintain the geographic growth rates that we have set ourselves by expanding our branch offices in all areas in which there is a high potential for the development of our business activities.
In 2011, Fluidra closed the deal to acquire Aqua Pro- ducts and Aquatron, and branch offices were opened in Serbia, South Africa and Brazil. In Brazil, following many years of market analysis, we have finally made our mark on the country by opening this new branch. It will become a core distribution and production centre in order to respond to the future demand of
The good performance in 2011, shows our resilience in a complex economic environment
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MESSAGES FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND THE CEO OF FLUIDRA FLUIDRA GROUP
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