Cyprus’ Muskita Aluminium sales tumble but profits stable

Muskita Aluminium Industries Plc released its preliminary 2009 results posting a
25% Year-on-Year decrease in revenue to EUR47.5mln compared to EUR63.8mln in 2008, but managed to maintain a marginal increase in profits.
Group revenue was pressured mainly due to the deterioration of exports and the Group’s weaker turnover at a local level, resulting from the weak economic conditions both in Cyprus and abroad. Gross margin slightly improved to 31% compared to 29% in FY2008, mainly due to the Company’s cost containment policy.
Despite the weak performance, bottom line profitability remained flat at EUR7.8mln compared to EUR7.6mln due to the non recurrent amortization of goodwill of the investment in the British subsidiary Universal Components of EUR2.996.286 that is included in the results of 2008. The Board also issued a negative profit warning for its FY10 results.
On an adjusted basis, net profit in 2009 came in lower by 26.8% amid the accelerated EUR 3.0m goodwill write off of MAI’s subsidiary ‘Universal Components’ recorded in 2008.