Moscow, Russia — December 2, 2004 — Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC [NYSE: WBD] today announced its financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2004.
During the first nine months of 2004, Wimm-Bill-Danns sales increased 26.9% compared to the same period last year. Gross profit increased 18.2% year-on-year, while gross margins for the group declined to 28.4% in the first nine months of 2004 from 30.4% during the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA* increased 21.1% compared to the same period last year, while net income fell 9.6%.
Commenting on todays announcement, Sergei Plastinin, CEO of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, said: "While maintaining strong top line growth, we continue to further enhance our overall operations to reflect a more costly and competitive marketplace, which has evolved in Russia today. Dairy gross margins in the third quarter showed lower year-on-year deterioration than during the first six months of 2004 despite the growing price of raw milk. Dairy sales in the nine months of 2004 continued to post strong growth of 34.3%, well above the growth rate of the Russian dairy market, while our regional coverage continue to expand. Juice sales grew 9% in the nine months of 2004, 36.2% year-on-year in the third quarter, with juice gross margins showing a noticeable improvement during the third quarter year-on-year. Due to cost control measures we are undertaking throughout the company and despite higher property taxes and a general increase in the cost of doing business, our selling and distribution expenses stayed flat as a percentage of sales. General and administrative expenses decreased slightly as a percentage of sales while growth in absolute terms, compared to the same period last year, was slower than in the previous quarters. EBITDA showed a healthy 21.1% increase."
Key Operating and Financial Indicators of 9m 2004
* Note: See Attachment A for definitions of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin and reconciliations to net income.
Wimm-Bill-Dann’s sales reached US$868.9 million in the first nine months of 2004, compared to US$684.6 million in the same period of 2003.
Sales in the Dairy Segment increased 34.3% from US$479.5 million in the first nine months of 2003 to US$644.2 million in the first nine months of 2004, while the average selling price increased 15.4% from US$0.65 per 1 kg in the first nine months of 2003 to US$0.75 per 1 kg in the same period this year. This increase was primarily driven by ruble price increase and ruble appreciation. Gross margins in the Dairy Segment declined from 29.1% in the first nine months of 2003 to 26.0% in the first nine months of 2004. This change was primarily caused by an 18% year-on-year increase in the average ruble price of raw milk as well as rising depreciation charges and personnel costs.
Sales in the Juice Segment increased from US$203.8 million in the first nine months of 2003 to US$222.2 million in the first nine months of 2004 while the average selling price increased 14.0% from US$0.57 per liter in the first nine months of 2003 to US$0.65 per liter in the same period this year. This increase was primarily due to ruble price increase, introduction of new higher priced products and ruble appreciation. Gross margin in the Juice Segment improved from 33.8% in the first nine months of 2003 to 35.4% in the first nine months of 2004 mainly due to the higher average price.
Selling and distribution expenses remained flat as a percentage of sales, while in absolute terms they grew 26.5% in the first nine months of 2004 due to higher transportation expenditures, advertising and marketing costs and personnel costs.
General and administrative expenses decreased as a percentage of sales from 8.4% during the first nine months of 2003 to 7.7% in the same period this year, but grew in absolute terms by 15.3%. This increase was caused by the repeal of the property tax privilege in the Dairy Segment as well as rising personnel costs.
Financial expense in the first nine months of 2004 totaled US$14.7 million compared to US$13.1 million in the first nine months of 2003. Interest expenses rose from US$15.3 million to US$17.0 million. The foreign currency gain was US$2.5 million compared to US$2.0 million in the first nine months of last year.
Net income decreased by 9.6% and stood at US$18.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA in the first nine months of 2004 increased 21.1% year-on-year and amounted to US$80.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin was slightly lower at 9.3% compared to 9.8% in the first nine months of 2003.
Attachment A
*Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin to US GAAP Net Income
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure. The following table presents reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (and Adjusted EBITDA margin to net income as a percentage of sales), the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure.
We changed the way of reporting Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before interest, income taxes and depreciation and amortization, adjusted for interest income, currency remeasurement gains, bank charges and other financial expenses and minority interest. Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA expressed as a percentage of sales.
We present Adjusted EBITDA because we consider it an important supplemental measure of our operating performance. In particular, we believe Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to securities analysts, investors and other interested parties because it is used in the “debt to EBITDA” debt incurrence financial measurement in certain of our financing arrangements.
Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Since we adjust EBITDA for recurring items in order to calculate Adjusted EBITDA, we particularly caution users that Adjusted EBITDA is not an alternative to net income, operating income or any other GAAP measure, nor to EBITDA. Moreover, other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently or may use it for different purposes than we do, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Adjusted EBITDA also should not be considered as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities or as a measure of our liquidity. In particular, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as a measure of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business.
WIMM-BILL-DANN FOODS
Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited)(Amounts in thousands of US dollars, except share and per share data)
Consolidated Balance Sheets(Amounts in thousands of US dollars)
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited)(Amounts in thousands of US dollars)
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Wimm-Bill-Dann, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to conform them to actual results. We refer you to the documents Wimm-Bill-Dann files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form F-1. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” in our Form F-1, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, acquisition strategy, risks associated with operating in Russia, volatility of stock price, financial risk management, and future growth subject to risks.