Presentation to the Financial Community October 1, 2004
1 Raw Material Price Index Trend MARKET Jan. '04June '04Actual Sept.'04 Change % Sept.04 Vs June 04 POLISTYRENE % POLYURETHANE % CARBON STEEL % STAINLESS STEEL %
2 Price Evolution 2 nd Half ‘04 TURNOVER (000 EUR) Yearly contracts (%) Open spend 2H '04 Merloni increase % (000 eur) PLASTICS (ps, pu, abs, pp) % %5.063 METALS (cr, ss) % % PS: polystyrene PU: polyurethane PP: polypropilene CR: cold rolled coil SS: Stainless Stell
3 Market performance: VOLUMES WE- VOLUMES +3.4% 1H04/1H % JUL-AUG 04/ JUL-AUG 03 JUL-AUG 04/ JUL-AUG 03 EE- VOLUMES +16.0% + + Markets underperforming Germany Holland Romania Germany Holland Romania Italy Germany Romania Poland Italy Germany Romania Poland Markets overperforming UK Spain Turkey UK Spain Turkey UK France Turkey UK France Turkey
4 Market price trend In Western Europe price still down by approximately 2% vs previous year In Eastern Europe still positive, with some countries showing unstable trend
5 Extra cost for recovery of service level in UK Current forecast full year ‘04 vs July ‘04 forecast: Call Center € 1.2 ml Engineers € 3.8 ml Lower margin € 1.5 ml TOTAL NEGATIVE IMPACT € 6.5 ml
NEW Outlook Sales expected to increase slightly above 5% at current exchange rates EBIT margin% decreases by approximately 30 bps vs the previous year Gearing ratio below previous year