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gategroup Announces Four-Year Growth Objectives

Dépèche transmise le 23 mars 2012 par PRNewswire

ZURICH, March 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

gategroup, the leading independent global provider of onboard products and services, today announced updated growth objectives through 2015.

In a presentation to be given today in London at the Company's second Investors Day, gategroup CEO Andrew Gibson outlined a revenue growth target through 2015 of CHF 600 million driven by existing business development and new business development. This objective represents revenue growth of 20-25 percent over the four-year planning period from CHF 2.7 billion in 2011 to CHF 3.3 billion in 2015.

gategroup is also targeting additional potential revenue growth of 10-20 percent through execution of its mergers, acquisitions and alliances (MA&A) strategy, which includes consideration of a large transaction or a series of smaller, accretive bolt-on acquisitions that augment the Group's business strategy.

In aggregate, the combination of existing and new business development combined with MA&A activity is targeted to deliver 30-45 percent growth over the coming four years. While this may appear aggressive, Gibson noted that on a constant currency basis, gategroup achieved revenue growth of 16 percent over the last two year period.

"gategroup's focus is on balanced, sustainable and profitable growth," he said, adding that the Company's strategy remains firmly in place to capture growth within the existing core customers, the airline industry, while cultivating additional business around gategroup's existing centers of activity and assets. These efforts will be supported through divisional development initiatives, Company-wide campaigns, and new ventures, including potential entry into adjacent markets where gategroup's products and services can naturally be extended.

Over the planning period, the targeted margin before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) would be between 8.0 to 9.5 percent, with the potential for an additional 1.5 percentage points through MA&A activity. Overall, the return on invested capital (ROIC) is targeted to exceed 12 percent and cash generated from operations before interest and taxes to range from 5 to 7 percent of revenue. The plan assumes: No material change in 2011 foreign exchange rates; cost structures and contract pricing remain at current levels; revenues for existing gategroup businesses increase in line with IATA-growth factors; and revenues will be augmented by new business development and MA&A actions.

Developing and managing true partnerships with airline customers is the key to success, Gibson said, noting that gategroup recently realigned its business to execute more effectively against these defined opportunities.

"We firmly believe that sustainable growth must be delivered through a managed portfolio of options. We aim to achieve this by capturing organic growth, leveraging our existing management and physical assets for new business development, and making sensible accretive acquisitions," Gibson said.

For more details, including the Investor Day presentation, please visit the gategroup web site at the following address: http://www.gategroupmember.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=518&Itemid=228 .

About gategroup:

gategroup is the leading independent global provider of products, services and solutions related to a passenger's onboard experience. gategroup comprises the following brands: deSter, eGate Solutions, Gate Aviation, Gate Gourmet, Gate Safe, Harmony, Performa, potmstudios, Pourshins and Supplair. Shares of Zurich-based gategroup are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol GATE. Please visit http://www.gategroup.com.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This publication contains forward-looking statements and other statements that are not historical facts. The words "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "project", "estimate", "predict", "intend", "target", "assume", "may", "will" "could" and similar expression are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such statements are made on the basis of assumptions and expectations that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this publication but may prove to be erroneous and are subject to a variety of significant uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Among these factors are changes in overall economic conditions, changes in demand for our products, changes in the demand for, or price of, oil, risk of terrorism, war, geopolitical or other exogenous shocks to the airline sector, risks of increased competition, manufacturing and product development risks, loss of key customers, changes in government regulations, foreign and domestic political and legislative risks, risks associated with foreign operations and foreign currency exchange rates and controls, strikes, embargoes, weather-related risks and other risks and uncertainties. We therefore caution investors and prospective investors against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements or to update the reasons for which actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

CONTACT: For media: Carol Reed, , +41-43-812-9128, orJohn Bronson, , +41-43-812-2048; or forinvestors/analysts: Dagmara Robinson, ,+41-43-812-5496