Starkes Kaufsignal bei Hagemeyer.

   
   
NEWS SNAP: Hagemeyer Cuts 04 Net Loss, Sees Loss In 05  
 



02-23-05 06:17 AM EST
AMSTERDAM (Dow Jones)--Dutch trading company Hagemeyer NV (35547.AE) said Wednesday it halved its full-year 2004 net loss but stopped short of saying it would swing into a net profit this year.

Hagemeyer, which distributes cables, fuses and first-aid kits for industrial premises, said its net loss in 2004 was EUR164 million, down from a net loss of EUR318 million a year earlier. Analysts had forecast Hagemeyer's net loss at EUR200 million.

Since breaking bank covenants in 2003, the Naarden-based company has been restructuring the EUR1 billion of debt it accumulated in a buying spree three years earlier. Net debt currently stands at EUR467 million.

The company is also restructuring its troubled U.K. unit after recently reshuffling senior management there.

"Once the restructuring of the U.K. operations prove to be successful, the 15% to 20% discount to its peers is bound to disappear, which could move the Hagemeyer shares to above EUR2.50," said Rabo Securities in a research note.

At 0903 GMT, shares in Hagemeyer were down 2.3%, or EUR0.59, at EUR210 in an overall weak market, amid disappointment that the company doesn't expect to report a net profit in 2005.

Chief Executive Rudi de Becker told Dow Jones Newswires said he sees a further narrowing of the company's net loss in 2005, but declined to provide a specific target.

He also said restructuring efforts in the U.K. are on track.

Full-year 2004 sales fell to 14% to EUR5.4 billion from EUR6.3 billion in 2003. Organic sales, excluding currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals, was 3.5%