French computer manufacturer Bull has reported a small
profit for 2003 and took a further step toward refinancing its
debt.
The company made a net profit of €4.1m (£2.3m) on sales of
€1.27bn in 2003, compared with a net loss of €548.1m on sales of
€1.51bn in 2002.
Excluding exceptional items and sales of assets, however, the
company was still in the red.
The 2003 profit included €26.2m in exceptional gains including
sales of assets, while the 2002 loss included a gain of €46.6m from
sales of assets, a restructuring charge of €225m and a charge for
exceptional items of €151.6m.
Bull kept its research and development expenditure at 4.8% of
sales in 2003, but cut administrative and commercial overhead to
18.9%, down from 24.5% a year earlier, boosting its gross margin
from 21.4% to 26.9%.
France accounted for 49% of sales during the year, and the rest
of Europe 36%. North America accounted for 6% and South America 3%,
with the remaining 6% in Asia and Africa.
Around 46% of sales came from products, including mainframes,
servers and software, consistent with the year before, while the
proportion from maintenance contracts, at 26.7%, has crept up to
almost equal that from services activities (27.3%).
Bull is still waiting for the European Commission to approve its
refinancing plan, under which it will receive €517m in aid from the
French government.
A board has approved the transformation of the state aid into a
loan to be repaid over 30 years. Bull will begin repaying the loan
once the European Commission approves the aid.
The market for Bull's products and services remains wavering in
2004. In the first half, the company expected sales of around
€570m, continuing the steady decline from €642m in the first half
of 2003 and €623m in the second half.
The company expected earnings before interest and taxation of
€17m in the first half of 2004, compared with €20m in the first
half of 2003.
Peter Sayer writes for IDG News Service