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8.3%, to be compared with the performance results of 2010, which
ended with EBIT of €49 million and operating margin of 6.4%.
The strong growth of business has weighted on the balance
sheet items of the Group. In 2011, the increase in inventories and
investments stood at more than €62million, or 6.7% of sales. Never-
theless, the Group’s free cash flow remained positive at €8 million
and net debt amounts to €103 million, or a gearing of 19%.
With improved performance, the Group is in a position this year to
offer its shareholder a dividend of €1.30 per share, up 24%compared
to 2010.
Preserving profitable, sustainable
growth in 2012
In 2012, the Group’s consolidated sales will progress mechanically
because of the consolidation of the full-year sales of LISI AEROSPACE
CREUZET and the expected level of business. The latter will benefit
from the strong demand for aerospace fasteners, backed by the
development of Airbus’s A350, and the highly anticipated industrial
start of Boeing’s B787. In the automotive sector, as in the medical
industry, the Group’s efforts will focus on improving the operational
management of 2011, an initiative necessary for restoring profita-
bility.
Also this year, each of our divisions will rely on the Group’s HSE*
schemes, Lean for improvement, Excellence for optimizing quality,
and Research & Development to assure our customers that we will
meet their requirements fully. We will also strive to enhance the
integration of the companies acquired in the past two years, with
the aim to standardize and disseminate best practices recognized
throughout the Group.
Thus, despite a global economy slowed down by the issue of
sovereign debt, particularly in Europe, the LISI Group remains
focused on increasing its business activity in 2012, and on its
growth plans in the medium and long-term.
We are therefore confident in our Group’s ability to pursue
sustainable, profitable growth. And finally, we are also convinced
that we can satisfy altogether our shareholders, our customers, and
our staff.
* HSE: Health, Safety and Environment.
1
2011 will be remembered
as a year of major
transformation
of the strategic profile of LISI
in the past two decades”