Yesterday, Imtech hosted a field trip to Warsaw. There were presentations by the managing director of the division Germany & Eastern Europe, and by the management of Imtech Polska. As on previous occasions, the local management appeared very enthusiastic and entrepreneurial. We also visited several projects, including the national stadium, which is under construction, and which represents circa € 60m in sales for Imtech Polska. Imtech provides installation services in 3 out the 4 football stadiums that are built in Poland for the European Championship 2012.
Eastern Europe is Poland, Rumania, Hungary, and Russia:
Imtech Polska was established as a greenfield operation by German unit ROM (now know as Imtech Deutschland). Rumania and Hungary were entered through add-on acquisitions in Rumania and Hungary. Imtech is looking for more critical mass, notably in electrical in Poland. They do not have the ambition to plant an Imtech flag in every country. Russia is a difficult market and is served by an office in St. Petersburg. Management is a bit hesitant to further penetrate the Russian market because of bureaucracy and other local issues. Imtech also exports is services to other countries.
(53,07 USD, 0,84%) 2015: € 500m in sales, of which € 200m in Poland:
The targets are to be achieved compared to 2010 levels of € 131m and € 57m respectively. Growth in Poland and Hungary has recently been very strong and management sees no reason why this should slow down short term. Imtech Polska generated sales of € 19m in 2007, 2008, and 2009, € 57m in 2010, and for 2011, management expects € 100m. Margins are said to be in line with those of the division as a whole, so around 7-8%. The backlog at the end of 2011 is expected to reach € 250m, of which € 60m from a large theme park, € 80m from a few other large projects, and € 110m from small and mid-sized projects. Strong growth in Poland was achieved via expansion of the work-and sales force, which allowed Imtech Polska to tender for more and larger projects. If needed, they can ask their German sister companies for assistance. The presentation included examples of several projects, whose scope included electrical, mechanical, and fire safety systems, so cross-selling is taking place in Poland. The Hungarian fairytale was communicated a few weeks ago via a press release. In May, Imtech acquired Yit's Hungarian activity, which had sales of € 11m per annum. Not long thereafter, Imtech announced that the Hungarian backlog had risen to circa € 100m, owed to large contracts awarded by the Hungarian units of existing German clients.
Conclusion:
For some time now, management has been enthusiastic about growth prospects in Germany & Eastern Europe. Yesterday's presentations provided more background information on especially the Polish operations, which we believe adds to the credibilityof their view. The situation in Hungary is also very positive, although Imtech was already in talks with German clients before they acquired the local Yit activity. Overall, we believe yesterday's presentations support our estimates and investment case.