Interseroh SE 2010 Revenue Exceeds Forecast

Interseroh, a Cologne, Germany-based recycler and environmental services firm, has reported that its sales and revenue numbers for fiscal 2010 have exceeded earlier forecasts.

During a press conference to discuss its annual results, Axel Schweitzer, Interseroh’s CEO, says, "We have emerged from the global economic crisis and achieved the second best result in our 20-year history in 2010.”

For the year, the company reported revenues increased by 53 percent to €1.9 billion (US$2.683 billion), compared to the previous year’s revenues of €1.3 billion ($1.836 billion). Earnings before tax increased from €3.8 million in 2009 to 2010’s level of €45.7 million.

"The increase in earnings of almost €42 million – in spite of one-off effects – even exceeded our own expectations. All three segments of Interseroh Group grew very strongly in the course of the past year. Along with the increasing demand for steel and metal scrap, high-quality secondary plastics and recovered paper, we benefited particularly from our broad network of locations and trading centers both at home and abroad," says Schweitzer.

Schweitzer attributed the strong results for the group as a whole to the strategic realignment within Interseroh Group.

With a deep-water terminal in Dordrecht, Germany, Interseroh says it is capable of supplying scrap to any country in the world. At the same time, Interseroh expanded its steel and metals recycling business segment in 2010 by starting to trade in alloyed scrap, as well as by strengthening the processing and marketing of nonferrous metals.

Benefiting the improvement, Schweitzer notes, has been the cooperation between Interseroh and ALBA Recycling Group. "The cooperation has brought substantial benefits. Together, Interseroh and ALBA cover the entire so-called urban mining value chain – from collection to the recovery, processing and marketing of raw materials, and the development of new products from recycled material, and thus the completion of the material cycles."

During its annual conference, Interseroh’s board of directors discussed the planned merger agreement with ALBA Group plc & Co. KG. While top management has approved the merger, Interseroh will put the deal up for a vote of its shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting in May. If the merger is approved, Schweitzer notes, it will create one of the largest recycling companies in Europe.

"With the planned legal integration of the two previously independent business groups ALBA and Interseroh under the holding company ALBA Group plc & Co. KG, ALBA Group is set to become one of the ten largest corporations for environmental services, recycling services and raw materials suppliers worldwide with a unique product portfolio. By consequently continuing our earnings assurance program, which started in 2009, Interseroh is now in a better position than ever before."

Upon conclusion of the control and profit transfer agreement and its approval by the annual general meeting, Schweitzer says that Interseroh and ALBA will become the only vertically positioned business group in Germany, and will play a key role in the licensing market, recycling markets and in supplying secondary raw materials.

"The planned integration will result in a reduction in terms of operational and strategic response times, thereby improving decision-making processes, strengthening our market position, as well as providing opportunities for the more effective realization of growth potential," Schweitzer adds.

Interseroh’s CEO stressed that the planned merger would not affect the status, name or location of Interseroh SE. "Following implementation of the control and profit transfer agreement, Interseroh SE is set to remain the only German environmental services provider and raw materials trader listed on the stock exchange.”