Ekranas facing difficult year after fire

The color-picture-tube manufacturer Ekranas reported a turnover of 164.3 million litas (47.6 million euros) for the first five months of this year, an 18.6 percent decline over the same period last year, said the company.
The company also stated that it had received an insurance payout of 42.2 million litas from Zurich Draudimas (Zurich Insurance) this year for damages caused by a fire in the plant last October.
Angilija Zokaitiene, head of Ekranas' investor and public relations department, attributed the drop to the continuing fall in prices on world electronics markets.
Also, the company's sales structure and depreciation of the U.S. dollar has also cut into profits.
"This year, small-size TV tubes accounted for 63 percent of the total sales, 13 percent more than last year. Buyers pay in U.S. dollars for these tubes, so the first quarter was not profitable for us," CEO Eimutis Zvybas said in a statement earlier.
He said the company had increased production volumes by 30 percent starting in April and continues its cost-cutting measures.
The company reduced the cost of production of TV tubes by 8 percent on average in the first quarter of 2003, compared with the same period in 2002.
"With the downward trend for TV tube prices persisting in the global markets, Ekranas continues to cut costs in an attempt to offset the impact of this ongoing process. I believe that Ekranas will close this year without losses," Zvybas said.
Still, first-quarter results were negative, as the manufacturer posted a loss of 5.9 million litas, compared with a net profit of 7.2 million litas in the same period in 2002.
In quantitative terms, however, the TV-tube maker has boosted sales to around 1.5 million units in the January-to-May period, some 100,000 units more than in the same period last year.
The company has not announ-ced its profit and turnover estimates for 2003, saying only that it expects to break even or perhaps post a small profit. Output is projected to increase to 3.9 million units, or to 4.5 million units if the market situation improves.
Ekranas posted an audited net profit of 12.3 million litas for the full year 2002, versus a net profit of 42.7 million litas for 2001.
The company also stated last week that it was satisfied with its insurance settlement.
"The insurance payouts are sufficient to compensate the damages," Angelija Zokaitiene, Ekra-nas' public relations officer, said in reference to the final payment.
She said the 42.2 million litas would be divided into four equal amounts and entered into Ekranas' 2003 financial accounts on a quarterly basis.
Zurich Draudimas paid out just over 10 million litas in damages to the company last year, bringing the total settlement to more than 52 million litas.
As of late April, Ekranas' main shareholders included Farimex with 15.9 percent of the stock, CPT Investment with 14.26 percent, Profilo Sanayi Ve Ticaret with 12.9 percent, Henley Trading Interna-tional with 8 percent, and Redok Investments Holding with 5.88 percent.