annual report 2009

visions realised

Waagner-Biro AG

Leonard-Bernstein-Strasse 10, 1220 Vienna, Austria

T: +43/1/288 44 0, F: +43/1/288 44 333

[email protected], www.waagner-biro.at

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09 annual report

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

income

Sales revenues 123.2 176.6 151.6 192.4

thereof national (%) 9.9 6.5 8.8 4.8

thereof international (%) 90.1 93.5 91.2 95.2

EBITDA 7.4 10.2 10.9 16.7

Profit on ordinary activities2) 3) 1.9 4.3 7.4 12.1

Consolidated result 6.6 5.1 17.5 8.6

ROSEGT (%) 1.5 2.4 4.9 6.3

ROEEGT (%) 14.2 21.8 24.3 34.6

assets

Total assets 170.3 161.2 137.4 139.1

Non-current assets 66.8 55.0 38.7 45.3

Ratio of equity capital to non-current assets4) (%) 73.8 94.0 94.1 91.2

Equity5) 39.3 41.7 30.4 35.0

Equity ratio (%) 23.1 25.9 22.1 25.2

Investments 2.6 2.9 2.3 9.9

Depreciation and amortisation 2.5 2.5 2.6 3.3

Gross cash flow 2.4 4.3 9.4 16.6

Cash flow from operating activities 1.4 4.5 –2.3 19.0

other key figures

Employees as at December 31 (number) 749 814 930 1,079

Order intake 165.7 182.7 206.3 172.7

Order backlog 134.3 138.7 190.0 175.9

1) With the exception of the key figures regarding assets, all values have been adjusted for the Hunslet-Barclay business area liquidated in 2007 and the Binder+Co participation, which was sold off entirely at the end of February 2008

2) Before goodwill amortisation pursuant to IFRS 3

3) Transition of profit on ordinary activities 2006 2007 2008 2009

Earnings before tax 1.9 10.7 7.4 12.1

+/– Result from non-recurring items – –6.4 – –

= Profit on ordinary activities before goodwill 1.9 4.3 7.4 12.1

4) Equity + social capital (= provisions for severance, pension and long-service bonus payments) / non-current assets

5) Including mezzanine capital

/ KeY FiGures 2006 – 20091) /

2006 2007 2008 2009

151.6192.4176.6

123.2sales revenues(in EUR million)

2006 2007 2008 2009

10.9

16.7

10.27.4eBitda

(in EUR million)

2006 2007 2008 2009

206.3172.7182.7165.7

order intake(in EUR million)

2006 2007 2008 2009

7.4

12.1

4.31.9

profit on ordinary activities(in EUR million)

2006 2007 2008 2009

190.0 175.9138.7134.3

order backlog(in EUR million)

2006 2007 2008 2009

9.4

16.6

4.32.4

Gross cash flow(in EUR million)

at a Glance/ visions realised /

KalutaraSri Lanka

/ spectacular projects in all Busi-ness areas / Further improvement in sales revenues and the result / Well prepared For stiFF headWinds /

153 ⁄

Yas island Marina HotelAbu Dhabi

ronacHerVienna

⁄ 1

at a Glance/ Visions realised /

KalutaraSri Lanka

/ spectacular projects in all busi-ness areas / FurtHer iMproVeMent in sales reVenues and tHe result / Well prepared For turbulent tiMes /

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

IMPRINT: Publication: once annually. Owner, issuer and publisher: Waagner-Biro AG, Leonard-Bernstein-Straße 10, 1220 Vienna, Austria. editor in chief: Gerhard Klambauer. editors: Georg Male, Claudia Fugger, Margit Moisl. Trans-lation: John D. Cima. General coordination: be.public Werbung Finanzkommunikation, Vienna. Art direction: Tomislav Bobinec. Picture editing: Claudia Fugger, Margit Moisl. Pictures: Waagner-Biro AG, Vienna, B. Cvetkovic, Ljubljana, Lois Lammerhuber, Wien, TYM asociados, Pamplona. Typesetting: luffup Büro für Grafik und Werbung GesmbH, Peter Stubics. Printing: Grasl Druck & Neue Medien, Bad Vöslau.

/ Visions realised /

3 / best eVer result /

EDiToriAL BY GErHArD KLAMBAuEr

4 / spectacular projects –

a reVieW oF 2009 /

28 / WaaGner-biro Group /

30 WELL PrEPArED For TurBuLENT TiMES /

MANAGEMENT BoArD iNTErViEW

34 GrouP STruCTurE

36 CoMPANY ProFiLE

38 iNTErNATioNAL PrESENCE

40 STrATEGY

41 CorPorATE GoVErNANCE

43 GoVErNiNG BoDiES

44 / WaaGner-biro aG /

46 MArKET ENViroNMENT

48 BuSiNESS DEVELoPMENT 2009

59 ouTLooK For 2010

60 / WaaGner-biro staHlbau aG /

68 / WaaGner-biro austria

staGe sYsteMs aG /

76 / Qualter, Hall & co ltd. /

80 / consolidated Financial

stateMents 2009 /

82 CoNSoLiDATED BALANCE SHEET

84 CoNSoLiDATED iNCoME STATEMENT

85 CoNSoLiDATED CoMPrEHENSiVE

iNCoME STATEMENT

86 CoNSoLiDATED CASH FLoW STATEMENT

87 CoNSoLiDATED EquiTY SCHEDuLE

88 NoTES

120 AuDiTorS’ rEPorT

122 SuPErViSorY BoArD rEPorT

124 LoCATioNS

The Stage Systems business area represents one of the world’s leading specialists in the field of stage equipment and intelligent arena engineer-ing.

⁄ 3

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

With a leap in sales revenues from around

Eur 150 million to around Eur 192 million

and an improvement in the result (profit on

ordinary activities) to around Eur 12

million, 2009 was the best financial year in

the recent corporate history of the

Waagner-Biro Group. Numerous, impres-

sive projects were realised around the globe

in every business area, led by the futuristic

roof for the Yas island Marina Hotel in Abu

Dhabi, the largest single undertaking that we

have ever completed. The following pages

offer a guided tour of the diverse projects that

occupied Waagner-Biro during 2009 and

which range from complex steel and glass

facades, to flexible bridge systems and the

very latest stage technology. The geographical

span involved, stretches from iceland, Germany,

Spain and russia, to Abu Dhabi, qatar and

Ghana, and then on to South Korea and China.

The reason why all this was possible in a year of

general crisis can be traced to the high levels of

expertise that our Group has acquired in the

course of more than 150 years and for which it is

renowned among customers all over the world.

Moreover, intensive market cultivation and the

excellent endeavours of our highly moti-

vated workforce had an equally decisive

impact in this regard.

Nonetheless, Waagner-Biro did not remain

unaffected by the crisis. The propensity to

invest and hence the demand for our

products and services declined noticeably

during the past year. Therefore, we must

prepare for turbulent times and accord-

ingly have already intensified our sales

activities and imposed the strictest cost

discipline. As a consequence of joint

efforts, we have continued to capture

numerous attractive orders, with the result

that our forecasts for 2010 are quite

optimistic. Even though we will not be

able to repeat the outstanding figures of

2009 in the foreseeable future, top quality,

total commitment and systematic innova-

tion will continue to provide a platform for

Waagner-Biro’s success.

Gerhard Klambauer

besteVer result

/ editorial /

4 ⁄

Yas islandMarina Hotel abu dHabi

/ spectacular projects – a reVieW oF 2009 /

steel and Glass enGineerinG

/ in pole position /

in the international spotlight during the first Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with its unique grid shell spanning the track, the Yas island Marina Hotel forms the heart of the project.

ahmed ali ai saygehChairman,

Aldar Properties PJSC

“i can only congratulate the team

from Waagner-Biro Stahlbau on its

outstanding performance. The

manner is which Waagner-Biro

committed itself to this project made

a major contribution to the lasting

success of the first Formula 1 Etihad

Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and is

proof of the great professionalism of

the company. We are already looking

forward to the intensification of our

business relationship with Waagner-

Biro in the course of new residential

and leisure facilities in Abu Dhabi.”

⁄ 5

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

The spectacular, 16,000m2 facade of the

Marina Hotel on Yas island in Abu Dhabi

has set records on every level. The project

constitutes the most exciting and largest,

individual contract in the history of

Waagner-Biro’s Steel and Glass Engineer-

ing division. The hotel, which was de-

signed by the New York star architectural

office, Asymptote, is of the highest

architectonic quality and forms the heart of

the newly opened Formula 1 circuit. The

two elliptical shells of the T-shaped

building, which face both sides of the

track, are covered with a structure that

resembles reptilian skin. The racing cars

pass directly under this so-called grid

shell, which is formed by a steel and

glass net comprised of bevelled, rhombic

elements. The cantilevered, pre-assem-

bled roof, which was put together from a

total of 172 transportable, individual

elements weighing up to 25t, is borne by

just a few V-shaped supports. The roof

shell itself consists of over 10,700 differ-

ent rods, 5,100 varying nodes and

5,096 glass elements. No two of the

latter are identical and their angle can be

adjusted. All in all, 2,750t of steel with a

total length of 22,000m were used for the

structure.

6 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

order to be ready for the first Etihad

Airways Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Waagner-Biro not only accepted this

challenge, but exceeded itself still further

by finishing the building before the agreed

date. As a result, the Group again justified

the confidence placed in its expertise by

respected architects and clients with

regard to the realisation of complex geom-

etries and projects involving demanding

logistics. The impressive opening, com-

plete with sensational lighting effects, of

the first Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand

Prix on November 1, 2009, delighted

television viewers all over the world.

a race against time. in addition to

demanding 3D geometry and the

problematic assembly situation, the

logistical management of this complex

project constituted an exceptional

challenge. The contract was allo-

cated in January 2008 and had to

be completed in just 18 months in

Breathtaking spatial experiences are provided by the lounge directly underneath the building shell, which was completed by Waagner-Biro.

⁄ 7

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

“Precise adherence to deadlines and

excellent quality of execution are very

important to both our customers and my

company and with Waagner-Biro as our

partner, these requirements were met to

our complete satisfaction. The cooperation

with Waagner-Biro was characterised by

outstanding communications with our

team, excellent coordination with regard to

the scheduling of the planning and con-

struction work, and a high degree of

flexibility. This was the only way in which

the project could be successfully realised

within the extremely short period available

for completion. A special challenge was

posed by the fact that Waagner-Biro had

to carry out the work on the facade even

while the construction of the Sun Tower

was continuing.”

lorenz schneiderCEo and partner,

Tilke & Partners W.L.L. Abu Dhabi

lorenz schneider

sun toWerabu dHabi

/ eXclusiVe outlooK /

Waagner-Biro received an order for a second demanding facade project

on the Yas island in Abu Dhabi with the realisation of the Sun Tower. The

spindle-shaped silhouette of the 50m-high Sun Tower rises up in the

immediate vicinity of the Marina Hotel in line with the start and finish

straights of the new Grand Prix track. The upper storeys are entirely

glass-fronted and contain the royal boxes, which offer an exclusive view of

all the Formula 1 action. The shell, which measures 2,300m2 and consists

of individual panels has an integrated light installation that allows the

Tower to shine out in the night as a visible symbol of Abu Dhabi’s entry

into a new age.

a challenge in every regard. in addition to the planning, production and

assembly of the facade, this contract also demanded the highest levels of

logistical precision. The tight schedule for the punctual completion of the

shell, which is designed as a classical, triangular net and involved highly

complex installation, meant that it had to be finished by the first Etihad

Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Completion had to be carried out in close

coordination with the construction of the concrete core and in addition,

fire-protected steel was employed. Waagner-Biro also completed this

challenging assignment without problems and as planned, the royal family

and their guests were able to watch the race on November 1, 2009, from

their private boxes.

Two prestigious projects from Waagner-Biro in close proximity, the Sun Tower and the Yas island Marina Hotel.

8 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

capital Gate abu dHabi

/ aVantGarde in record diMensions /

in 2007, Waagner-Biro’s Steel and Glass Engineering division

captured one of the largest individual contracts in its history with

the order for the facades of the Capital Gate, the futuristic tower

of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, which is known as

the ADNEC for short. This structure, which was designed by the

British architectural office, rMJM, is part of the Capital Centre, a

micro-city, which is attached to the Exhibition Centre and offers

residential and working accommodation in a number of towers. As

the largest and most modern exhibition facility in the Middle East,

the ADNEC has over a million visitors per year.

12,000 unique panes of glass. The 34-storey “Leaning Tower of

Abu Dhabi”, which has been nominated for the Guinness Book of

records, spirals upward into the sky and as the district’s landmark

has already put its stamp on the entire urban silhouette. Complet-

ed by Waagner-Biro during 2009, the steel and glass facade has

an area in excess of 23,000m2 and a height of around 160m. The

architecture of the building, which would appear to defy gravity,

presented a massive challenge with regard to its planning, com-

pletion and installation. in line with the triangular structure of its

main support, over 700 largely rhombic elements, consisting of

triangular sections, were completed on-site and then brought into

position complete with glass. As a result of the complex geometry

involved, each of the 12,000 triangular panes of insulation glass is

unique. Nonetheless, in spite of the difficult installation conditions

and enormous time pressure, the contract was completed in

accordance with the tight schedule.

As a result of this initial project, Waagner-Biro Stahlbau received

follow-up contracts for the tower involving the roof of the atrium

and the realisation of the so-called “splash”, a sunshade covered

with a metal weave, which descends from the middle of the

structure in veil-like form. The “splash” was also finished in 2009.

Waagner-Biro completed the 23,000m2 facade of the “Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi”.

⁄ 9

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

tHe blob eindHoVen

/ a crYstalline solitaire /

A multifaceted interplay of light on the steel glass facade of “The Blob”, which has been liberated from basic geometric figures.

one example of the floating forms in

contemporary architecture, which thanks

to Waagner-Biro’s specialist know-how

can be successfully implemented, is “The

Blob” project in the Dutch city of Eind-

hoven. As part of a revitalisation scheme

in the city centre, Waagner-Biro was

awarded for the realisation of the facade

for a 5-storey building with office and

commercial units. The external shell, the

so-called free form surface, is liberated

from basic geometric figures and simulta-

neously constitutes both the facade and

roof. The associative appearance of a drop-

let gave the “The Blob” project its name.

A great deal of 3D expertise was in

demand with regard to this undertaking,

not least during the joint definition of the

final geometry with the client, Heijmans

Bouw, and the italian architect, Massi-

miliano Fuksas. The fact that Waagner-

Biro succeeded in harmonising the net-

work lines of the free form with the

foundations and the rest of the building,

not only achieved visual advantages, but

also considerably simplified the construc-

tion process. The sheet structure, which is

comprised of triangles consisting of

welded steel sections covered with glass

and metal panels, lends the geometrically

smoothed surface the appearance of a

crystalline object. For Waagner-Biro this

project brought both entry into the Dutch

market and a successful, practical demon-

stration of the special geometric know-

how obtained during a research project

with the Vienna university of Technology.

bert pietersProject Manager Heijmans utiliteitsbouw

B.V., client

“our decision to commission Waagner-

Biro with the realisation of the facade of

“The Blob” in Eindhoven has proven

correct in every regard. The excellent

cooperation of all the partners involved

throughout the entire construction process

played a decisive role in the successful

implementation of this imposing project.

From a client’s perspective, we were

greatly impressed by Waagner-Biro’s

professional project management and its

high levels of competence. Not least, this

impression has been confirmed by the

enormously positive echo that we have

received in response to this fantastic

facade.”

10 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

ncc spencer docK dublin

/ iMpressiVe MarKet entrY /

Waagner-Biro Stahlbau made its entry into

the irish market during 2009 with the

completion of the National Conference

Centre (NCC) Spencer Dock in Dublin. The

new centre is located on the banks of the

river Liffey in the heart of the irish capital’s

dockland area and is part of a major

revitalisation scheme. The contract in-

volved the planning, production and

installation of the delicate steel and glass

shell of an impressive, multi-storey, light-

flooded atrium. This represents the central

design element of the building, which was

completed according to drafts from the uS

architectural firm of Kevin roche & John

Dinkeloo, and stands out architecturally in

its river front location. Waagner-Biro

carried out the enclosure of the atrium with

an angled glass drum, which includes

complex links to the main building. The

storey-high, slightly curved glass panes of

the shell provide enormous transparency

and brightness. This project illustrates the

fact that even when market booms are

passed, Waagner-Biro can win over clients

through precision working in every detail

and great expertise with regard to complex

geometries, and thus successfully open up

new markets.

⁄ 11

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

olYMpic bridGe and stratFord sHoppinG centre london

/ a place on tHe podiuM /

During the 2009 financial year, Waagner-

Biro Stahlbau captured two prestigious

projects in London in the shape of the

construction of the Z-shaped, olympic

Central Park Bridge and the glass roof of

the newly built Stratford Shopping

Centre.

citius. altius. Fortius. The olympic

Central Park Bridge in the eastern part

of the city has been designed by the

irish architects Heneghan Peng and

during the Summer olympics in 2012

will conduct the flows of visitors over

the numerous canals on the site. The

contract also includes the adaption of

the bridge to the legacy mode when

the facilities are redesigned for use as

a public park after the Games. This

project involves special challenges

relating to the oscillations derived

from heavy loads and the mirror

polished metal housing of the steel

substructure, which will require the

highest precision during surface

processing. Following the comple-

tion of the demanding, two-stage

project planning, the on-site

prefabrication of the bridge ele-

ments is currently in full progress

and the linkage of the two sides of the

bridge is imminent.

At the end of 2009, the assembly of the

glass roof of the Stratford Shopping

Centre commenced in the immediate

vicinity of the olympic Park. For Waagner-

Biro this is a gratifying follow-up order to

the Westfield White City shopping centre

project in west London. The new building

is to have a highly transparent surface

comprised of numerous glass roof ele-

ments and this will again demand first

class detailed working and precise com-

pletion. The curved arcade, which runs

through the entire complex, will stand out

due to flat areas of glass suspended from

a steel construction.

The glass facade of the light-flood atrium ema-nated from Waagner-Biro.

12 ⁄

ljubljana opera

/ a stunninG perForMance /

“in the course of my theatrical career, which spans almost 30

years, i have worked successfully with Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems on a number of occasions and every time, i have been

newly convinced by the company’s expertise and know-how

with regard to modern stage technology. our first joint project

took place in the 1990s with the extensive update of the Maribor

theatre’s stage equipment. This is still in operation and continues

to run smoothly. indeed, in spite of the advanced age of the

system, it is as quiet, precise and excellent as on the day it was

installed.

Therefore, for me it was a special pleasure to accompany

Waagner-Biro during the conversion work in “my” opera house

in Ljubljana. As the technical head of the opera, i was obliged to

realise the maximum performance within the given budget.

Waagner-Biro won the tender and thus a new era in our team-

work commenced. Within the scope of the complete technical

overall, our major focus was on the automation of roughly 50

different drives of which 46 are contained in the over stage and

two in the under stage machinery. Thanks to Waagner-Biro’s

efficiency, all the new stage machinery elements operated

fault-free and could already be employed to our complete

satisfaction eight months prior to the opening of the theatre.

Last, but not least, a translation into Slovenian was provided for

the control system, whereby Waagner-Biro’s equipment

exceeded our expectations with regard to its user-friendliness.

The Waagner-Biro project team completed the enterprise with

extreme precision on every level and also communicated with

the theatre in an outstanding manner. Even unforeseen ques-

tions were constantly solved with speed and competence.”

edi Martincic,the technical head of the Ljubljana opera


staGe sYsteMs

edi Martincic

⁄ 13

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

renewed and integrated into the Waagner-

Biro CAT controls. Great precision was

required during the planning of the prosce-

nium winch and its cables owing to the

fact that these run through the prosce-

nium ceiling, which has a heritage pro-

tected fresco, strict spatial limitations had

to be taken into account. once again,

Waagner-Biro impressed during this

A new stage tower and back stage for the

opera house in the Slovenian capital now

ensure sparkling performances in front of

the scenery. Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

has equipped the auditorium with 35 fly

lines for the over stage machinery, new

drive technology for the under stage

machinery and lighting flies. in addition,

the entire electrical systems have been

project with its extensive competence in

both a technical and project management

regard. Moreover, irrespective of all the

related challenges, the alterations were

completed at the end of 2009 after only

twelve months.

118 years following the original installation, the stage technol-ogy of the Ljubljana opera House was completely renewed.

© B

. Cve

tko

vic

14 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

scHloss-tHeater scHÖnbrunn

/ tradition Meets innoVation /

opened in 1747 as the imperial court

theatre, the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn

is the oldest theatre still in operation in

Vienna. The stage technology has now

been renewed, in order to continue to

guarantee smooth performances.

Waagner-Biro received a contract for

the re-equipping of the over stage

machinery and was able to demon-

strate its proven know-how on this

historical stage. The scope of supply

included the exchange of the obsolete flies

for 15 computer controlled backdrops and

four additional hanging points. As a result

of the work, which was completed in only

two months in the autumn of 2009, the

theatre is now fitted with the very latest

technology. The performance, flexibility

and reliability of the stage machinery in this

historic venue were thus dramatically

enhanced.

Vienna’s oldest theatre was furnished with state-of-the-art stage technology by Waagner-Biro.

⁄ 15

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

in summer 2009, Waagner-Biro Stage Systems successfully

entered the Polish market with a prestigious and sizeable contract

for the entire stage equipment of the first opera house in eastern

Poland. The opera house, which is scheduled to open at the end of

2012, will be part of a cultural centre in Bialystok, the capital of

Voivodeship Podlachia, and is seen as an important milestone in

the development of Bialystok into the cultural and economic

centre of eastern Poland. Waagner-Biro’s scope of delivery

included the under stage machinery for an orchestra platform, four

double floor platforms, which form a stage area of 168m2, four

side stage wagons and a back stage wagon with integrated

turntable. The over stage machinery winches consist of 49

backdrop and 4 panorama flies, as well as light bridges for the

stage and the auditorium. Waagner-Biro winches also drive the

curtain system. in addition the opera house, which is integrated in

a splendid park, will also dispose over the very latest Waagner-

Biro CATV4 controls. As a result of the excellent cooperation with

local partner firms, follow-up projects are to be sought for long-

term cooperation.

national concert and conFerence centre reYKjaViK

/ bacK on tracK /

in view of iceland’s financial situation, the contract for the entire

stage technology for the National Concert and Conference Centre

in reykjavik, which was awarded to Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

in 2007, was suspended during 2008 until further notice. How-

ever, in April 2009 Waagner-Biro received the go-ahead for the

continuation of work on this project. This new, futuristic centre is

located in the old reykjavik city port and was designed by the

leading Danish architect, Henning Larsen. When completed, it will

consist of a concert hall for an audience of around 1,800, a re-

hearsal hall with room for some 450 people and a conference hall

for 750. The demanding stage machinery, which represented a

major challenge to the design engineers, consists of 267 rolled

sound curtains in lengths of up to 18 metres, 78 reverberation

gates, 35t of heavy, mobile acoustic ceilings, a portable cinema

screen, a mobile turntable, diverse platforms and chorus wagon

system. The project is scheduled for completion in September

2010.

podlasKa opera bialYstoK

/ MarKet entrY in poland /

The stage technology for eastern Poland’s first opera house is from Waagner-Biro.

During 2009 it was possible to continue work on the National Concert and Confer- ence Centre in iceland.

16 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

The first class references of Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

have already resulted in the receipt of a second contract from

the Kremlin in Moscow. This involved the renewal of the stage

technology systems in the Marble Hall and their upgrading to

the latest equipment. The historically important conference

room was fitted with electric winches for 14 chandelier flies,

as well as an entirely new set of controls, in order to meet the

particular demands generated by russia’s political stage

during conferences and presentations at the highest level.

Waagner-Biro also refurbished the hoisting platforms along

with winches for a film screen and the state coat-of-arms. The

company’s logistical performance with regard to the opera-

tional coordination of its technical personnel was outstanding,

as the proximity of the Marble Hall to the presidential chancel-

lery and the constant presence of leading representatives of

the russian government demanded extremely precise team-

work with the security staff. in spite of a very challenging

schedule lasting just six months, the new system went into

operation on time in December 2009 to the complete satisfac-

tion of the presidential administration.

tHe Marble Hall in tHe KreMlin MoscoW

/ at tHe centre oF poWer /

ronacHer Vienna

/ WaaGner-biro sets tHe VaMpires dancinG /

As a result of the complete refurbishing of its stage technology by

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems, the ronacher, Vienna’s leading ad-

dress for musicals, has been able to present itself in the spotlight

since it reopened in 2008. in the meantime, the production of the

internationally successful musical “Dance of the Vampires” meant

that once again Waagner-Biro’s know-how was in demand. on

September 16, 2009, the show opened with a new turntable,

specially designed for the ronacher. As so often, Waagner-Biro

demonstrated the highest expertise with regard to the solution of

challenging technical problems. This is because to a large extent, the

stage revolve with a diameter of 12m and a maximum load bearing

capacity of 10t, which was designed to meet the scenic require-

ments, protrudes over the back stage lifting platform required for

scenery transportation. Waagner-Biro’s specialists provided a notable

solution for this problem by designing a special turntable comprised

of two linked segments, which can be separated when the lifting

platform moves up and down. one of the segments is anchored in

the solid stage floor and the other in the moving, lifting platform.

During scenic use, the two segments are locked together to allow

their rotation as a single unit, while during scenery moving they are

separated, in order to allow unhindered operation of the elevator

podium. The installation of the stage revolve took place under mas-

sive time pressure, but was completed on time during the ronacher’s

eight-week summer break in 2009.

Top technical and logistical performance in historically and politically interesting surroundings.

Thanks to the separable turntable segments designed by Waagner-Biro, the lifting platform (on the bottom edge of the picture) can be used without hindrance.

⁄ 17

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems has gained a solid foothold in the

Chinese market, with its fourth project in succession. The glass

shell of the luxurious theatre complex in Chongqing in western

China, which resembles a huge ship and stands on the banks of

the Yangtse, contains two auditoriums consisting of an opera

house with 1,750 seats and a theatre (Medium Theatre) with room

for 800. Together with its Chinese partner, Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems was responsible for the entire stage equipment of the

theatre. The company delivered 80 complete, over stage fly lines,

as well as the drive technology for the wagon system integrated

into the stage floor and the related controls. Handover of the

systems took place in December 2009 to the complete satisfac-

tion of the customer.

During 2009, Waagner-Biro also made decisive progress

with an important contact in South America. The Teatro

Colon in Buenos Aires, which is world-famous for its

crystal-clear acoustics, will soon be operating with innova-

tive stage equipment from Austria. The order, which was

received in April 2007, incorporates the complete engi-

neering for the construction of two hall platforms with a

lifting height of 19m and a truck elevator with a platform

area of around 50m2 and a lifting height of 12m. A follow-

up order involves a specially developed cover system for

the hall platforms. Following a halt to the project lasting

over a year, equipment installation commenced in July

2009. Waagner-Biro Stage Systems supplied all the

platform drives, the cover system and the truck elevator,

six space-saving, back stage backdrop fly winches, and

the related electronic controls. The opera house, which

was built in 1908, is due to reopen on May 25, 2010, the

200th anniversary of Argentine independence.MediuM tHeatre cHonGQinG

teatro colon buenos aires

/ tHe neXt step in cHina /

/ curtain up in latin aMerica /

Waagner-Biro supplied the stage technology of the theatre contained in the cultural centre in Chongqing.

More than a century after its original opening, performances are due to resume at the completely renovated Teatro Colon in May 2010 using stage equipment from Waagner-Biro.

18 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

seatinG at tHe centro cultural Federico GarcÍa lorca Granada

/ eleGance and precision /

The famous writer and poet, Federico García Lorca, who was born in

Granada in 1898, lent his name to this modern cultural centre, which

is located in the heart of the historical old city and in years to come

will help to decisively shape the cultural life of the entire region with

exhibitions, events and congresses. The complex, which has been

designed by the TYM asociados architectural office and sponsored by

the Eu, is due to celebrate its festive opening in December 2010.

cool elegance. one aesthetic gem in the building is a natural stone

staircase. Via the foyer, this leads the visitor directly from the en-

trance into the auditorium for which Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

was contracted to complete special telescopic stands with high-grade

wood panelling. This telescopic seating stand block, which is con-

trolled by the latest cable-free technology, constitutes a masterpiece

of precision engineering from Waagner-Biro. At the same time, the

individually manufactured stand allows the cool elegance of the

natural stone staircase to be seen to best effect. it opens up like a fan

and glides along the staircase in the auditorium, where when closed,

it nestles against the wall in a minimum of space. This is made

possible by Waagner-Biro’s special design: The angular stands run

along the natural stone staircase and match the height of the steps

precisely.

The innovative telescopic seating stand in both a folded out and folded up form.

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Multiversum

Schwechat facility constituted a milestone for sporting

and cultural life in Austria. in line with the slogan, “The

hall for all”, the multifunctional complex intends to

delight audiences in future with youth and popular

sporting events, as well as first class cultural events.

With this contract from its domestic market, Waagner-

Biro has captured another important reference project in

the field of flexible building equipment at a location not

far from its headquarters. in December 2009, the main

contracting company not only ordered the entire tele-

scopic stands, but also all the seats for the fixed rows

and the freely moveable seats on the hall floor. in

addition, Waagner-Biro was commissioned to provide

the hall with a mobile, height-adjustable platform for the

exchange of lights and media installation. The Multi-

versum, which will accommodate up to 2,500 visitors,

is scheduled to open at the end of 2010.

MultiVersuM scHWecHat

/ VersatilitY For sport and culture /

The telescopic stands and seating in the Multiversum in Schwechat is to be realised by Waagner-Biro.

As a result of its expertise in the field of innovative telescopic seating

stands, in December 2009 Waagner-Biro Stage Systems received a

contract for the extensive equipping of a new multifunctional arena in

the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. The Ministry of Sport of the

Navarra region commissioned the company with the construction of

partly fixed and partly mobile telescopic stands for a total of 6,000-

12,000 spectators, including the folding mechanisms and the seats. The

supply of the four double-tier, main platforms with an area of over

600m2, as well as four, secondary integrated platforms, all of which are

needed for the stands, will take place in mid-2010, in order to allow

installation to begin in autumn as scheduled. in addition, a 3-year

maintenance agreement was also signed.

Maximum flexibility in minimum time. in line with its multifunctional

character, the new arena and hence its stands must be suitable for a

variety of sporting events, as well congresses and trade fairs. once

again, Waagner-Biro managed to win over the clients with a highly

innovative solution, the stand allowing extension in a range of variations,

which facilitate quick adaptation of the space available to diverse

requirements. using the platforms and the telescopic seating stands, it

is also possible to create a second playing area adjacent to the main one

in minimum time. This provides ideal conditions for the Basque national

sport of pelota, a ball game involving two two-player teams. Depending

on the version being played, these require a court, or frontón, with a

length of 35m and a width of up to 15m. using the telescopic seating

stands, this can be arranged quickly and easily as required. Perfect

conditions are also offered for the spectators, as the second level of the

stands rotates and can therefore either face the main or the secondary

playing area. in addition, should the entire arena be required, as is the

case with trade fairs, the entire stand structure can be lowered into the

floor.

arena reYno de naVarra paMplona

/ a sportinG cHallenGe /

The complex stand seating for the new, multifunctional arena in Pamplona must be completed in just four months.

© TYM asociados

20 ⁄


bridGe enGineerinG

Modular bridGes GHana and tHe

pHilippines

/ sustained success WitH a sYsteM /

The San Pedro Gutad and the Creek ii modular steel bridges are two important reference projects in the Philippines.

⁄ 21

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Exemplary for the long-term, sales success

of Waagner-Biro modular system bridges

around the world are two orders from

Ghana and the Philippines. The prefabri-

cated, easy to install, steel truss system is

especially suitable for countries with

infrastructural deficits, or for the restoration

of road and rail links following natural

disasters. The shipping of the materials for

five construction sites in the north of the

republic of Ghana (Wa to Walewale

sector), where a total of five, two-lane,

35m-bridges are to be built, commenced in

2009 and is due for completion in May

2010. if the project runs to schedule, the

bridges should be assembled by the end of

March 2011. Ghana is another new market

on the African continent, which since 2001,

Waagner-Biro Bridge Engineering has been

gradually opening up with major success.

long-term partnership. During the past

decade, Waagner-Biro has already deliv-

ered 436 bridges to the Philippines and in

2009, together with its long-term partner,

MCE Stahl- und Maschinenbau GmbH &

Co, supplied another 18 modular bridges as

part of the Philippine bridge building

programme. Damaged bridges in regions

hit by flooding and volcanic eruptions were

replaced by static, solid and permanent

Waagner-Biro bridge structures, with the

aim to reestablish the infrastructure essen-

tial to industry and agriculture in the af-

fected areas as quickly as possible. The

contracts involved both the design and

engineering of the super- and substructures

of the steel bridges and the necessary

construction work.

22 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

in July 2009, Waagner-Biro captured an internationally coveted contract in

the form of a spectacular swing bridge for a metro line in the heart of the

istanbul metropolis. The bridge has been designed by the Hakan Kiran

architectural office and will span the entrance of the almost seven-kilometre

long Bosphorus strait, which is known as the Golden Horn. it will thus link

istanbul’s two most historically important districts, Galata-Pera and the

ancient peninsula, which have both been designated as World Heritage Sites

by uNESCo. in future, a special combination consisting of two cable-stayed

bridges and a 120m-swing bridge will enable metro trains to take the short

route over the strait. one demanding precondition for this solution was

two-line, metro operation at a maximum speed of 80 km/h.

a swing bridge for the metro. Waagner-Biro was able to win the tender-

ing process with a scheme that was both the most innovative and favourably

priced. As a pleasing consequence, an order was received for the complete

design, production and supply of the swing bridge, as well as the monitoring

of the installation work required for its mechanical, electrical and hydraulic

systems. using an electro-hydraulic drive, the bridge can be swung out

horizontally over the centre bearing by up to 90°, thus allowing ships and

ferries to pass unhindered.

Golden Horn bridGeistanbul

/ a bridGe betWeen europe and asia /

With its innovative solution for the Golden Horn Bridge, Waagner-Biro has once again demonstrated its expertise with regard to techno-logically complex projects.

dogan demirProject manager, JV Astaldi-Gülermak, the

general contractor for the Golden Horn Bridge

“Waagner-Biro has proven to be the perfect

partner during the realisation of the demand-

ing engineering required for the Golden Horn

Bridge and has thus fulfilled all our expecta-

tions. in the course of the planning phase, the

team from Waagner-Biro not only provided an

impressive demonstration of their expert

solutions with regard to all types of mechani-

cal, hydraulic and electrical challenges, but

also showed their reliability when it came to

adherence to the time schedule. We are

convinced that with Waagner-Biro’s support

and assistance, together we will be able to

successfully complete this important order

from the istanbul city authorities.”

⁄ 23

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

At the end of 2008, Waagner-Biro succeeded in entering the

market of another Asian nation with the delivery of an initial panel

bridge to South Korea. The advantages of this innovative, steel

bridge system, which comprise high levels of flexibility, simple

installation, speedy construction, rapid availability, high load-bear-

ing capacity and excellent corrosion protection, makes it especially

suitable for use in emergency situations. Should a bridge be

destroyed in a disaster, the rapid restoration of urgently required

infrastructure can be guaranteed. over 180t of steel were em-

ployed for the 70m-long, two-tier, double-walled panel bridge in

Korea, which also included the ramps and the launching nose and

roller equipment. Like all the Waagner-Biro’s panel bridges in-

stalled worldwide to date, the bridge can be assembled and

disassembled in a “do-it-yourself” process at any time. in Seoul,

two supervisors from Waagner-Biro trained a ten-person Korean

assembly team and in spite of extremely changeable weather

conditions, with monsoon-like rain being followed by intolerable

heat, and the inexperience of the crew, the intelligent bridge

system was able to successfully demonstrate its efficiency with

regard to the assembly process. in fact, the bridge was finished in

just 69 hours or 14 days. in addition, Waagner-Biro Stahlbau

became the first supplier to accomplish the installation of a

70m-panel bridge by means of the launching process, during

which a lightweight, special construction is employed to move and

connect the respective bridge sections.

panel bridGes soutH Korea

/ „do-it-YourselF“ patent /

Waagner-Biro is also repeatedly commissioned with interesting

special projects in its domestic market. For example, in July 2009,

the Group received an order for two cooling water pipeline bridges

for the newly built combined cycle, gas and steam turbine power

plant in the Styrian district of Mellach. The contract was awarded

to Waagner-Biro by the specialist company, integral, which in the

course of the overall project is responsible for the plant and pipe

engineering. The so-called Mühlbach Bridge is a bolted truss

bridge with two walkways and railings on both sides, complete

with a substructure for cableways and pipelines. The trusses have

a weight of 23t and the bridge was finished on time in December

2009. Another bridge of the same type, but far larger, is the Mur

Bridge, which has a truss weight of 252t and is due for completion

by April 2010. As a result of Waagner-Biro’s efficient project

management, an installation period of just six weeks is planned.

Moreover, a paved pre-assembly area is to be created, in order to

keep local traffic disruption to a minimum.

pipeline bridGes MellacH poWer plant

/ special order in tHe austrian doMestic MarKet /

The Seoul panel bridge during the laying of the carriage-way plates.


inFra-structure

al Yasat aali island Marina dubai

/ Marine enGineerinG, Made in austria /

The construction of new moorings on the

coast of the island of Al Yasat Aali in Dubai

is one of the numerous projects with which

Waagner-Biro Gulf has established an

excellent reputation in recent years in the

field of embankment construction and

marine engineering within the Arab World.

The growing demand for intensive mainte-

nance work and the erection of additional

coastal defences in the form of breakwa-

ters, embankments, stone reinforcements

and groynes has had an extremely

positive effect on Waagner-Biro’s order

books. The fundamental reason behind

the intensive construction work in this

sector is the serious erosion affecting

both Dubai’s extensive sandy coastline

and those of the neighbouring Emirates.

The project in Dubai was commissioned by

the local transport authority within the

framework of upgrading measures along

the coast and also included the design and

completion of a new marina station in the

Al Yasat Aali Bay. The moorings can

accommodate two motorboats and up to

eight jetskis simultaneously, including the

supply of electricity and drinking water.

The new moorings for two motor boats and up to eight jetskis.

⁄ 25

The new wastewater business in the united Arab Emirates has

developed extremely well. The background for this success is the

growing belief in sustainable solutions in the areas of supply and

disposal throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula and the fact that

a number of successfully installed, smaller biological wastewater

treatment plants have served as reference projects and awakened

the interest of both private and government customers. Conse-

quently, in mid-2009 Waagner-Biro completed its first major

contract. The town of Al Khor in qatar, which has a population of

10,000, put the first large-scale wastewater plant to be built by

Waagner-Biro Gulf into operation. The plant combines mechanical

and biological cleaning and can handle a throughflow rate of

2,500 m3 per day. The Eur 3.5 million order volume incorporated

the planning of the hydraulic, construction, mechanical, electrical

and measurement systems, the realisation of the entire project,

and plant operation management for a period of three years with

the possibility of an extension. Moreover, the project has already

attracted a follow-up, as in 2009 Waagner-Biro was contracted to

complete another wastewater treatment plant in qatar.

Following the commissioning of the exceptional Capital Gate

project by the Steel and Glass Engineering division, Waagner-Biro

captured a pleasing follow-up order with the installation of a

pedestrian bridge for the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre

(ADNEC). opened in 2007, the ADNEC is regarded as the world’s

most modern and largest event and trade fair centres and the

related 162m-long, 396t bridge, which was designed by the

Danish architects, Dissing+Weitling, brings visitors directly from

the port to the Exhibition Centre. it thus not only facilitates events

in the Centre itself, but in the port as well. The entire project,

which was completed on time for the 2009 international Defence

Exhibition & Conference (iDEX), also included the construction of

a 350m-long quay wall. This offers space for the mooring of visitor

boats, which previously had to anchor in the port of Mina Zayed

some 20km away.

al KHor Waste Water treate-Ment plant Qatar

adnec pedestrian bridGeabu dHabi

/ WasteWater treatMent tecHnoloGY GaininG Ground / / a solid linK /

The pump room is the heart of the plant, which can handle a throughput of 2,500 m3/d. interior view

of the spectacular pedestrian bridge, “made by Waagner-Biro”.

26 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄


serVice

boXes For tHe Vienna opera ball

/ FroM staGe to ballrooM /

Every year guests at the opera Ball can follow events directly from the stage in specially assembled boxes from Waagner-Biro.

Waagner-Biro has been a trusted partner to

the Vienna State opera for over 100 years

and in this capacity has completed numer-

ous projects. recent orders have included

the modernisation of the under stage

machinery in 2007 and the refurbishment

of the drives of the over stage machinery

with the very latest generation CATV4

control system in the summer of 2008.

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems’ experienced

service personnel have also long been

involved in the traditions of the world-

famous Vienna opera Ball. During the year

under review, the company assumed

responsibility for the installation of the

boxes, which are placed on the stage

especially for the night of the ball. The

75 box components manufactured by

Waagner-Biro consist of the boxes, pas-

sages, steps and platforms and have

individual weights of up to 2t. They were

installed by 55-strong team in the record

time of just 15 hours and after the ball,

they were disassembled within ten hours.

All in all, a total weight of over 90t was set

in motion. Every year, Waagner-Biro

completes this logistical feat in the course

of several working shifts, which are

coordinated down to the smallest detail. As

a result of this precise planning, even under

enormous time pressure and without a

spare moment, in 2009 the company again

successfully completed this challenging

assignment to the complete satisfaction of

the customer.

© Lois Lammerhuber

⁄ 27

MoVable stands in tHe arena and sports palaceMadrid

/ siMultaneous stabilitY and FleXibilitY /

one example of the service offered by Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems is provided by the movable stands in the Madrid

Arena and Sports Palace. The mobility thus offered has

proved successful in every regard, whether for sporting

occasions, theatrical productions, or large-scale musical

events such as performances of the opera “Carmina Burana”.

The special telescopic stands from Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems facilitates quick and uncomplicated adjustments to

every requirement and moreover, the company remains

involved in the life cycle of modern, multifunctional event

centres through its activities as a services supplier. For the

past five years, a 4-strong service team from Waagner-Biro

has coordinated and completed the planning and realisation of

a variety of stand configurations in Madrid. Modifications for

events can require up to twenty specialists, in order to quickly

ensure the optimum use of the space in the halls, which

provide the venues for as many as three events per week for

over 10,000 spectators. on a daily basis, the Waagner-Biro

service teams work with speed and efficiency and thus

ensure maximum customer satisfaction.

Since 2008, Waagner-Biro has demonstrated its abilities as a

reliable support partner throughout the entire life cycle of a project

by means of an in-company maintenance and refurbishing service

for cranes that it originally delivered. The retrofits provided have

proven to be highly cost efficient, especially with regard to the

machine room cranes employed in hydropower plants for turbine

assembly and repair. owing to the fact that even after many years

of operation, the cranes themselves only demonstrate minimum

wear and slight limitations with regard to their mechanical func-

tions, instead of new purchases customers are generally opting for

upgrades, as these are far less cost intensive. Good examples of

this were provided during 2009 by retrofitting orders for the crane

system dating from 1967 at the Garsten hydropower plant on the

river Enns in upper Austria, and for the rio Macchu hydropower

plant in Costa rica, which was built in 1972. in both cases,

Waagner-Biro impressed with its extensive range of services.

up-to-date thanks to modern know-how. At the rio Macchu

hydropower plant, which is located in the Tapanti National Park

south of the Costa rican capital of San José and belongs to the

iCE electricity plant, Waagner-Biro undertook the complete

replacement of all the crane control and drive systems. Damage to

a turbine in the power plant necessitated the fastest possible

completion of the work, in order to allow repairs to take place.

Waagner-Biro completed the refit in a record time of just four

weeks with the result that the turbine was able to again feed

power into the grid as scheduled. Accordingly, since December

2009, all the crane’s drive motors, brake lifting devices and

coupling halves are state-of-the-art.

crane retroFitcosta rica

/ a partner For liFe /

The smooth performance of the “Carmina Burana” was exemplary for Waagner-Biro’s professional stand service.

The cranes are used for turbine assembly and repair in hydro-power plants.

WaaGner-biro Group

30 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Well prepared For turbulent tiMes

/ ManaGeMent board interVieW /an interview with board members, Gerhard Klambauer (Waagner-biro aG, Waagner-biro stahlbau aG and Waagner-biro austria stage systems aG), othmar sailer (Waagner-biro stahlbau aG) and Wolfgang staufer (Waagner-biro austria stage systems aG)

In 2009, you increased your sales revenues by around a solid quarter and your profit on ordinary activities improved substantially. You your-selves say that this was the best year in recent company history. How was this achieved just as the general recession really set in?

Klambauer: We actually do regard our-

selves as a major exception and of course

are very pleased with the results. Several

factors are responsible for this success, not

all of which can be actively controlled. on the

one hand, we have the major Yas island

Marina Hotel project in Abu Dhabi to thank for

the leap in sales, but this is a one-off effect of

a scale that is unlikely to be repeated in the

immediate future.

on the other, we operate largely in niche areas,

which are naturally less susceptible to crisis. in

concrete terms that meant that the demand for

our services weakened during 2009, but did not

come to a complete halt. Another factor is that

many of our contracts are long running, involving

projects lasting for several months, if not years.

Consequently, as compared to others, we gener-

ally feel the effects of economic downturns at a

later date and then to a less dramatic extent.

Did all the business areas develop equally well? Or did you only feel the crisis here and there?

sailer: if one looks at the individual business areas,

the Stahlbau Group achieved a massive increase in

sales revenues and virtually doubled its profit on

ordinary activities. However, partly owing to the

economic situation our order intake, which increased

markedly in 2008 not least due to the Yas island

Marina Hotel project, fell again and on balance was

somewhat below the long-term average. This decline

emanated primarily from the Steel and Glass Engineer-

ing division, but the 2009 figure for Bridge Engineering

was also somewhat down on that for the previous year.

Nonetheless, at the end of the year a number of

Gerhard Klambauer

Wolfgang Staufer

othmar Sailer

⁄ 31

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

contracts were ready for signing and in

January and February 2010 became actual

orders.

staufer: in the Stage Systems business

area, sales revenues declined in 2009, but

we nonetheless succeeded in raising the

profit on ordinary activities. in general,

order intake remained constant and at the

end of the year, the award of a number of

contracts was also imminent. in view of

the tense general situation, this develop-

ment is highly pleasing, as some 80% of

Stage Systems orders relate to public

sector clients, who in recent months were

often very hesitant with regard to new

contract allocations.

Klambauer: our British mechanical

engineering subsidiary, qualter, Hall & Co

Ltd. developed in an extremely sound

manner, increasing both its sales revenues

and its profit on ordinary activities. order

intake at the company also rose, primarily

due to the receipt of a major mine equip-

ment contract, which is scheduled to last

for several years.

Demand in some areas has clearly lost its impetus. Could this mean that Waagner-Biro will first be genuinely hit by the crisis in 2010?

Klambauer: No, from a current perspec-

tive this need not be feared. it merely

means that for us the crisis has not

passed, although basically this applies to

the entire economy. Since the middle of

2009 at the latest, Waagner-Biro has

actually been confronted with the reti-

cence of our customers, who due to the

economic situation and above all, the

uncertainty surrounding forecasts, have

repeatedly postponed their projects.

However, we have adjusted to this situa-

tion and have implemented the appropri-

ate measures. our planning takes the

changed circumstances into account and

in 2010 we anticipate a thoroughly solid

performance.

What makes you so optimistic?

staufer: owing to the fact that we are

affected late in the economic cycle, we are

less influenced by its fluctuations. other

positive factors include the extensive

spread of our product and services portfo-

lio, and our geographic presence. one

should also not forget that we enjoy an

excellent standing in our markets and

niches and have a firm launch pad due to

our positive reputation. Moreover, i need

hardly mention the fact that this does not

absolve us from active market support and

constant efforts on the cost front.

When you refer to market position and reputation, what makes Waagner-Biro stand out both in times of economic down- and upturn?

sailer: our two core assets are comprised

by our superior technological expertise

and our strengths in the contract realisa-

tion area, which extends to extremely

complex projects. in addition, we have an

excellent track record with regard to both

these points and a large number of suc-

cessfully completed projects prove that

we are actually capable of delivering what

we promise. in many cases, this is a

decisive factor and furnishes the founda-

tions of our sound, worldwide reputation.

our success emanates from an

ability to find the optimum and

often the lowest cost solution for

our customers on the basis of

experience, know-how and

intelligence. For example, this

applies to the new Golden Horn

Bridge contract, which we were

able to capture due to an extreme-

ly innovative solution. incidentally,

in the Bridge, Steel and Glass

Engineering divisions, we frequent-

ly profit from the fact that the

demands for quality are most

stringent. Consequently, only a

small circle of possible suppliers

come into consideration and, owing

to our references, we are one of this

group.

You obtain a considerable share of your sales revenues in the Arab World in general and Dubai in particular. Are you not concerned by the tense economic situation prevailing in the region?

Klambauer: Naturally, we have a

close eye on the developments in

Dubai and are intensively involved

with risk assessment. However, as

our main customer is the government,

we assume that our receivables are of

long-term value. in addition, we have

been active in other Emirates for many

years and have deliberately spread our

presence throughout the region.

Therefore, all in all, the Arab World

remains an interesting market for us,

but the focal points are changing. Abu

Dhabi now occupies the foreground

and here we have already achieved

successes of considerable note, which

in 2009 included two more interesting

projects in the shape of the Capital Gate

Building and the ADNEC Pedestrian

Bridge. in qatar, the first wastewater

plant to be built by Waagner-Biro Gulf

became operational in the third quarter

of 2009 and a further project was

commissioned at the end of 2009.

Moreover, with the qatar Education City

Convention Centre another extremely

exciting project in the intelligent Arena

Engineering division is under way. We are

“The MARkedLY dIsPROPORTIONATe INCReAse IN The ResuLT IN RATIO TO sALes ReveNues PROvIdes CLeAR evIdeNCe ThAT The MeAsuRes TAkeN TO COuNTeRACT The ReCessION hAve ACTuALLY TAkeN effeCT.”

32 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

subject to a sudden stop in 2008, but is

now virtually finished. By contrast, Poland

has emerged as an interesting new market

and we have successfully opened it up in

cooperation with local partners, as evi-

denced by an initial project in Bialystok. We

were also able to again obtain a variety of

contracts in South America.

In concrete terms, how have you prepared for the continued difficulties in the general economic situation?

Klambauer: An obvious initial point of

approach in this connection was to greatly

intensify our market efforts in all our

business areas in order to secure use of

capacity to the largest extent possible. The

fact that we were successful is reflected

by firm order intake in 2009 amounting to

Eur 173 million. At the same time, we also

stepped up our cost cutting endeavours

with the aim of raising our productivity

wherever feasible. Accordingly, during

2009, in particular we raised the efficiency

of our order realisation process and specifi-

cally launched a variety of projects in the

logistics area. A more targeted purchasing

policy also brought positive effects,

especially with regard to an enlargement of

our supplier basis. The markedly dispropor-

tionate increase in the result in ratio to

sales revenues provides clear evidence

that these measures have actually taken

effect.

sailer: Another improvement, which

perhaps belongs more to the soft facts,

relates to the tangible modernisation and

improvement of our working conditions

created by our move to new headquarters in

Vienna. Moreover, as opposed to other

strong national presence and considerable

market know-how. incidentally, we recent-

ly received an initial steel and glass engi-

neering order from Azerbaijan, which

relates to an entrance structure for the

airport in Baku. This was one of those

pleasing occurrences in which we were

invited to participate in a project on the

basis of our reputation.

in the Bridge Engineering division, the

African market continued to develop in a

positive manner and countries are being

added to our portfolio one after another.

Following our entry into the Moroccan and

Angolan markets, in 2009 we supplied our

first bridges to Burkina Faso, Ghana and

Algeria, and at present are intensively

active in the Nigerian market. We are

opening up the continent in a highly

structured and planned manner and the

probity of the decision to work in this

region is repeatedly reaffirmed. The

demand for infrastructure projects in

indonesia and the Philippines remained

stable, however business is extremely

dependent upon financing, which in recent

years has becoming steadily more prob-

lematic.

staufer: in the Stage Equipment division,

the majority of orders come from Europe,

but at the moment we are also looking

after three exciting projects in Japan,

which we were able to capture in team-

work with our local partner. Conversely,

the realisation of European projects is

frequently subject to postponements and

this means a delay in our receipt of sales

revenues. one example in this regard is

the National Concert and Conference

Centre project in reykjavik, which was

also cultivating the markets in

oman, Saudi Arabia and other

emirates with great intensity.

We see the general market

trend as being highly positive,

especially in areas such as

wastewater technology.

What is the situation in other markets? Where are things going well and where do you see difficulties?

Klambauer: in view of the prevail-

ing economic malaise, we can

generally be content. Naturally,

price pressure has increased, but

we were able to more than hold our

own, in spite of the fact that some-

what surprisingly, virtually no new

orders are being allocated in the

Chinese and russian growth markets.

sailer: in the Steel and Glass Engi-

neering division, things have not

exactly become easier in the uK, which

is one of our main markets. We are

subject to intense competition, which

originates mainly from domestic firms.

Nonetheless, we are working on a

number of interesting projects, which

include the 2012 Summer olympics in

London, and are optimistic about the

future. Due to our subsidiary we have a

“AN OBvIOus INITIAL POINT Of APPROACh Is TO GReATLY INTeNsIfY OuR MARkeT effORTs IN ALL OuR BusINess AReAs IN ORdeR TO seCuRe use Of CAPACITY TO The LARGesT exTeNT POssIBLe.”

⁄ 33

companies, what we have not done is

reduce the size of our workforce, as it

constitutes our know-how and hence our

most important asset.

What is the situation with regard to innovations? Is this also an important topic for you in times of instability?

sailer: Naturally, but we are constantly

working on innovations anyway. For

example, during 2009 planning in the Steel

and Glass Engineering division was

considerably accelerated by means of

automated CAD.

staufer: Stage Systems has also made

decisive progress with its “virtual theatre”

project, which is about to be concluded

and should be used for the first time in

2010 for the qatar Education City Conven-

tion Centre. in addition, we have also

developed a new acoustic banner for

concert halls, which has special reflection

and absorption characteristics that allow

facilities to be flexibly adjusted to various

types of events. in 2009, these banners

made their debut in the National Concert

and Conference Centre in reykjavik.

How do you see the outlook for 2010?

Klambauer: As already mentioned at the

beginning, we see 2010 with a general

sense of optimism, even though due

primarily to the crisis, the competition is

certain to be tougher. Moreover, in spite

of the fact that owing to price pressure,

margins are set to decline further, we

certainly wish to continue to refrain

from redundancies. We believe that we

can again achieve solid profits in 2010,

however these will not be of the same

scale as those attained in 2009.

in terms of business divisions, Bridge

Engineering should continue to

develop well, while the acquisition of

new Steel and Glass Engineering

projects is logically dependent upon

further economic developments. in

total, sales and results in the

Stahlbau Group for 2010 will clearly

lag behind those of 2009, but

nonetheless we should be able to

reach the level of 2008, which in

terms of a long-term comparison

was also high. As far as the Stage

Systems division is concerned,

we are cautiously optimistic and

forecast that we can obtain sales

revenues on a par with those

from 2008. Furthermore, a slight

increase in sales revenues may

well be possible at qualter, Hall.

Thank you for the interview.

“OuR PLANNING

TAkes The

ChANGed CIR-

CuMsTANCes

INTO ACCOuNT

ANd IN 2010 we

ANTICIPATe A

ThOROuGhLY

sOLId PeRfOR-

MANCe.”

34 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Group structure

note concerning the group’s legal

structure

Waagner-Biro AG acts as a

holding company for the

Waagner-Biro Group. The func-

tions of the holding company in-

clude central responsibility for

strategy and personnel, directive

competence and Group consolida-

tion.

The circle of Waagner-Biro AG invest-

ments, which together with the holding

company form the Waagner-Biro Group,

can be seen in the adjacent diagram.

⁄ 35

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

1) The shareholdings of Waagner-Biro in Jenbacher Holdings (UK) plc. (percentage share 97%) and Waagner-Biro Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH (percentage share 100%) are not shown here due to immateriality.

2) This diagram is based on business ownership (legal ownership amounts 49%).

As at December 31, 2009

wAAGNeR-BIRO AkTIeNGeseLLsChAfT

AusTRIA1)

Waagner-biro immobilien-verwaltungs GmbH, a100 %

Wbb stahl- und Maschinenbau aG i.a., a100 %

Wbb Fassadentechnik GmbH i.a., a100 %

Waagner-birostahlbau aG, a100 %

p.t. Waagner-biroindonesia, ri100 %

Waagner biro philippines inc., rp100 %

Waagner birolimited, Gb100 %

Waagner birospólka z o.o., pl100 %

Waagner biro Gulf l.l.c.,uae100 %2)

Waagner biro Qatar Wll, Qatar100 %2)

Waagner-biro bin buttiengineering l.l.c., uae100 %2)

Waagner-biro austria stage systems aG, a100 %

Waagner-biro luxembourg stage systems s.a., l51 %

Waagner-biro bavariastage systems GmbH, d100 %

Waagner-biro spain stage systems s.a., e100 %

Waagner-biro uK stage systems ltd., Gb100 %

Waagner-biro (shanghai) stage systems co. ltd., cHn100 %

ooo “Waagner-biro st. petersburg stage systems“, rus 100 %

94,9

9 %

5,01 %

Qualter, Hall & co ltd., Gb100 %

36 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

coMpanY proFile

The basis of the success of the Austri-

an Waagner-Biro Group, which is based

in Vienna, is furnished by engineering

know-how of the highest standard and

over 150 years of experience in the steel

construction and mechanical engineering

sectors in which the Group holds inter-

ests in both national and international

medium-sized companies. These include

the Waagner-Biro Stahlbau Group with its

Bridge Engineering, Steel and Glass Engi-

neering and infrastructure divisions, the

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems Group as one

of the world’s leading suppliers of stage

equipment and finally, the British company

qualter, Hall & Co Ltd., which is active in the

areas of mechanical engineering, bridge build-

ing and contract production.

The Waagner-Biro Group has a workforce of

just over 1,000, which is employed at fourteen

locations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

strong position

Thanks to its product range, the Waagner-Biro

Group has secured a strong position in the global

market:

• Ineachofthecoreareasofsteelbridges,

steel and glass engineering and stage

equipment, Waagner-Biro numbers among

the world’s three largest companies.

• The Group has assumed an international

pioneering role through the addition of

movable steel roof structures to its Bridge

Engineering product portfolio.

• In the field of complex steel and glass

structures for facades and roofs, Waagner-

Biro has an international reputation as a

partner to prominent architects.

• In the Stage Systems business area,

Waagner-Biro numbers among the leading

global market specialists for stage equip-

ment and intelligent arena engineering.

• Qualter,Hall&Co. Ltd. is extremelywell

established in its niche markets as a spe-

cialist company

⁄ 37

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

services portfolio

stahlbau•BRIDGEENGINEERING:systembridgesbasedon

the principle of standardised construction (modu-

lar truss bridges, panel bridges), architectural

bridges, arched bridges, cable-stayed bridges,

suspension bridges, movable steel structures

and bridges, as well as service and maintenance

in the bridge engineering, hydraulic steel con-

struction, crane building, mast and directional

radio installation construction areas

•STEEL AND GLASS ENGINEERING: globally

unique solutions for the completion of geo-

metrically complex structures using steel,

glass, cables and textile membranes, as well

as service and maintenance (facade mainte-

nance, refurbishments, modifications)

•INFRASTRUCTURE:servicesfortherealisa-

tion and long-term upkeep of high-quality

projects in the areas of marine engineering

and embankment construction, environ-

mental technology, steel construction and

electromechanics

stage systems Large, medium-sized and small stages,

stage equipment for cruise liners, tele-

scopic seating stands, computerised stage

equipment control systems, event tech-

nology as well as maintenance for cranes

originally delivered by Waagner-Biro

Qualter, Hall & co Mechanical engineering, mining machin-

ery, conveyor systems, shipbuilding

equipment and contract production

Waagner-Biro enjoys a technological lead thanks to its know-how and experience with regard to geometric, free form surfaces. in the period under review, with the Yas island Marina Hotel in Abu Dhabi, another prestige project was completed in this area.

38 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Barnsley

London

Madrid

St. Petersburg

Shanghai

WeiherhammerRodange Vienna

Warsaw

Doha DubaiAbu Dhabi

Makati City

Jakarta

inter-nationalpresence

⁄ 39

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Barnsley

London

Madrid

St. Petersburg

Shanghai

WeiherhammerRodange Vienna

Warsaw

Doha DubaiAbu Dhabi

Makati City

Jakarta

Locations

Stahlbau

Stage Systems

Qualter, Hall & Co

Projects

Stahlbau – Bridge Engineering division

Stahlbau – Steel and Glass Engineering division

Stahlbau – Infrastructure division

Stage Systems

40 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

strateGYstrateGic tarGets

leader-ship in core

markets

Further internationalisation

innovation leadership in all business areas

eastern europe

Western europe

africa

uae

china

indonesia

central and south america

philippines

asset coVer

Assets should be covered by equity and social capital

risK spread

individual risks not higher than 5%

proFitabilitY

roE of at least 25%

planning & design delivery installation services &

Maintenance

tarGet MarKets

strateGic principles

Value added cHain

core MarKets

The further growth strategy of the Waagner-Biro Group is subject to clear, strategic principles.

⁄ 41

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

As a modern, market-oriented and transparent

company, Waagner-Biro feels an obligation to the

principles of corporate governance, even though

it is not currently stock exchange listed. in this

regard, the company observes the spirit and rules

of the Austrian Corporate Governance Code from

September 2002 in its amended version from

January 2009. Waagner-Biro thus meets the

demand of the business interested public for a

generally recognised framework for company

management and supervision.

commitment to the austrian corporate Governance code

The standards contained in the Austrian Corporate

Governance Code are divided into three groups:

• Legalrequirements(L-rules)

• ComplyorExplain(C-rules)

• Recommendations(R-rules)

only the first category of rules (L-rules), which are

entirely based on binding legal statutes, have to

be employed by Austrian companies on a compul-

sory basis. As far as the C-rules are concerned, it

is foreseen that companies submitting to the

Code, should produce regular statements con-

cerning compliance and explanations of any devia-

tions. Conversely, companies may deviate from

the r-rules, which are of a purely recommenda-

tory nature, without any obligation to explain the

reasons.

Waagner-Biro is committed to the standards de-

fined by the Austrian Corporate Governance Code.

Thus the company complies with the objective

of the Code to direct the management and control

of the company towards long-term, sustainable

value enhancement

and to furnish all

stakeholders with a

high level of trans-

parency. Nonethe-

less, due to the spe-

cific characteristics of

the company, which is

of limited size and has

few retail shareholders, it

is neither possible nor

practical to fulfil in detail all

the rules of the Code, which

derived from voluntary par-

ticipation. The following situ-

ation prevails at Waagner-

Biro:

• L-rules Waagner-Biro complies with all

legal requirements, which apply

to non-listed companies. The

only exceptions are rule 19 (as

non-listed, no reporting of direc-

tors’ dealings to the FMA), rule 20

(as non-listed, no remittal of rules

for the avoidance of insider transac-

tion), rule 29 (no stock option plan),

rule 40 (as non-listed, no audit com-

mittee), rule 60 (as non-listed, the cor-

porate governance report is limited to

the presentation of deviations from the

Code), rule 63 (as non-listed, invest-

ment publicity neither manageable, nor

applicable) and rule 71 (as non-listed, no

ad hoc publication obligation).

• C-rules Waagner-Biro also complies with virtually all

the C-rules contained in the Austrian Corporate

corporate GoVernance

42 ⁄

Governance Code. The exceptions are formed

primarily by those regulations involving a level

of expenditure that for a non-listed company

with only a small number of minority sharehold-

ers (free float) would make adherence inexpedi-

ent. This is the case with rule 4 (no online pub-

lication of the call for an AGM), rule 5 (the

candidates for election to the Supervisory Board

are not named online), rule 6 (AGM voting re-

sults are not published online), rules 16 and 58

(details concerning the members of the Man-

agement and Supervisory Boards are not pub-

lished, rule 18 (due to the limited size of the

company, there is no necessity for the creation

of an internal auditing unit attached to the Man-

agement Board and the related tasks are as-

sumed by Controlling), rule 28 (no stock option

plan exists), rules 30, 31 and 51 (details con-

cerning the remuneration of the Management

and Supervisory Boards and their members are

not revealed for reasons relating to the protec-

tion of privacy), rules 34 and 39 (due to the lim-

ited size of the company, only a human resourc-

es committee exists, which is not subject to

detailed reporting), rule 49 (is not applied), rule

54 (as non-listed and due to the small free float,

the Supervisory Board does not contain a free

float representative), rule 64 (the ownership

structure is not made public via the website),

rules 66 and 68 (as non-listed, the company

does not publish quarterly reports and therefore

does not issue these online), and rule 74 (the

financial calendar is not published online).

• R-rules Waagner-Biro complies with all the recommen-

dations contained in the Austrian Corporate

Governance Code with the exception of rules

62 (external evaluation of adherence to the C-

and r-rules of the Austrian Corporate Gover-

nance Code) and 75 (conference calls including

events for analysts and investors).

A carefully measured balance between manage-ment, controls and corporate transparency is a major Waagner-Biro concern.

⁄ 43

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

GoVerninG bodies

supervisory board

Herbert W. Liaunig, Chairman

Hellmut Longin, First Vice-Chairman

Gerhard Heldmann, Second Vice-Chairman

Kurt Berger

Wolfgang Gauster (since April 28, 2009)

Günther Mörtl

Herbert Donnersbichler1)

Franz Toth1)

Stanislaus Schmid1)

1) Employee representatives

Management board

Gerhard Klambauer

Wolfgang Gauster (until April 28, 2009)

As at March 2010

44 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

/ sales reVenues iMproVe to eur 192.4 Million // proFit on ordinarY actiVities increased to eur 12.1 Million // order intaKe ForMs a solid Foundation at eur 175.9 Million /

HiGHliGHts 2009

WaaGner-biro aG

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⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

in the course of the year, the financial and eco-

nomic crisis led to a weakening in demand, as it is

clearly reflected in the key figures for 2009 from

the Waagner-Biro Group’s most important sales

markets.

According to current estimates, the Eu economy,

which in 2008 grew slightly by 0.7%, showed a

marked downturn in 2009 with shrinkage of 3.9%.

Even more pronounced was a 10.6% decline in

investments (2008: –0.2%) and industrial produc-

tion was also subject to a massive contraction of

14.2% (2008: –1.4%). By contrast, at 0.8% the

inflation rate was far lower than the 3.3% of the

preceding year. The latest estimates with regard

to the unemployment rate indicate a rise of 1.6

percentage points to 9.1% (2008: 7.5%). This pic-

ture was emulated in Germany and the uK, which

are especially important core markets for Waagner-

Biro. in 2009, GDP in both Germany (2008: +1.3%)

and the uK (2008: +0.5%) fell by 5.0%. However,

as predicted for the Eu and the global economy

as a whole, a slight recovery is already anticipated

in both countries in 2010. Following an increase

of 0.9% in 2008, Spanish GDP fell and a dip of

3.6% is likely for the period under review. More-

over, only a slow recovery is expected in the com-

ing years. While the newer Eu member states

generally experienced a sizeable recession, Po-

land, which is an interesting new market for

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems, remained relatively

sound in spite of the crisis. 2009 also saw a tan-

gible fall in investments in russia as a conse-

quence of the crisis, which placed a massive

damper on the country’s previous growth impe-

tus.

Figures according to Eurofer from January 2010 and January 2009 (figures 2007) | Eurostat as at February 2010 | IMF forecast as at October 2009

Main eu economic indicators

change over the preceding year in % 2007 2008 2009(e) 2010(p)

GDP 2.8 0.7 –3.9 1.1

Private consumption 2.0 0.5 –1.4 0.3

investments 5.1 –0.2 –10.6 –0.6

industrial production 3.7 –1.4 –14.2 2.5

inflation rate 2.2 3.3 0.8 1.3

unemployment rate 7.1 7.5 9.1 9.9

(E) = Expected, (P) = Forecast

MarKet enVironMent

⁄ 47

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The tremors generated by the

economic crisis were also strongly

felt in the Middle East, which is

another important Waagner-Biro

market. regional GDP swung

from +7.4% in 2008 to –0.2% in

2009, although an upward trend is

again expected in the future. Dubai

was and is especially hard hit by

this slowdown. indonesia and the

Philippines, the Bridge Engineer-

ing division’s traditional core mar-

kets, showed a weakening in

nominal GDP growth in 2009, but

remained in the positive range.

indonesia showed growth of

+4.0% (2008: +6.1%) and the

Philippines, +1.0% (2008: +3.8%).

The African continent, which is of

growing interest to Bridge Engi-

neering, also demonstrated a

positive if somewhat flatter

growth curve with +1.7% in 2009

(2008: +5.2%). The Chinese mar-

ket, which is important to Stage

Systems, only suffered a slight fall

in growth to +8.5% (2008: +9.0%)

and thus remained the driving force

behind the global economy. Nonethe-

less, investments declined sharply.

innovative seating stand construction remains an important Stage Systems business area market.

48 ⁄

notable increase in sales revenues and result in spite of the crisis

in spite of the financial and economic crisis, in 2009 the Waagner-Biro Group

achieved an excellent result. During the period under review, consolidated sales

revenues rose by 27% to Eur 192.4 million. This leap was primarily triggered by

the Waagner-Biro Stahlbau Group and in particular the Steel and Glass Engineering

division, which with the Yas island Marina Hotel project completed the largest indi-

vidual contract in its history. The British subsidiary qualter, Hall & Co Ltd. was also

able to markedly raise its sales revenues, while in the Stage Systems business

area, crisis-related consolidation took place, albeit on a very firm base.

This clearly reinforced sales revenue foundation enabled the growth of the profit on

ordinary activities to Eur 12.1 million (2008: Eur 7.4 million). in line with this im-

provement in the result, the profit margin (roS) also strengthened from 4.9% to

business deVelopMent

⁄ 49

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

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6.3% and the return on equity (roE) went up

from 24.3% in 2008 to 34.6%. At the end of

2009, the equity ratio stood at 25.2%, which

was also higher than in the previous year (De-

cember 31, 2008: 22.1%) and thus achieved a

sound level that is to be maintained in future

years. Gross cash flow totalled Eur 16.6 mil-

lion and was thus well above the value of the

previous year.

Despite the economic slump, Waagner-Biro

Group order intake presented a generally

satisfactory picture. At Eur 172.7 million,

order intake as a whole was at 16% below

the level of the preceding year (2008: Eur

206.3 million), but in such a turbulent envi-

ronment clearly indicates the highly suc-

cessful market cultivation of the Group’s

various business divisions. order backlog

at the end of the year amounted to

Eur 175.9 million (December 31, 2008:

Eur 190.0 million) and provides an ex-

cellent platform for further Group devel-

opment in the 2010 financial year.

improved results in all business areas

During the period under review, the

Waagner-Biro Group’s operative com-

panies were all able to again improve

their results. in individual terms, the

following picture emerges:

•The main source of the leap in

overall Group sales revenues and

result was the outstanding de-

velopment of the stahlbau Group during the past year. in

addition to the aforementioned

major project in Abu Dhabi, a

continuation of intensive mar-

ket activities and the success-

ful entry into new markets

provided the main impetus for this improve-

ment. in total Waagner-Biro Stahlbau Group

sales revenues rose by a notable 36% to Eur

141.9 million (2008: Eur 104.1 million). The

profit on ordinary activities doubled to Eur 9.9

million (2008: Eur 5.1 million).

Stahlbau Group order intake, which rose sharply

in 2008 due primarily to the Yas island Marina

Hotel project, fell back in 2009 by 28% to Eur

104.3 million (2008: Eur 145.7 million) and thus

owing to the economic situation was below the

long-term average. This decline emanated

mainly from the Steel and Glass Engineering

division, but the Bridge Engineering figure was

also slightly down on the previous year. Accord-

ingly, order backlog as at December 31, 2009

was Eur 103.1 million under the record level of

With “The Blob” shopping centre project in Eindhoven in the Nether-

lands, Waagner-Biro has impressed with the

realisation of a steel and glass facade that defies basic

geometry.

50 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

the preceding year (December 31, 2008: Eur

139.9 million). Nonetheless, this means that

use of capacity remains secure.

in 2009, the core stahlbau and stage sys-tems business areas achieved extremely positive results for the year:

• Stahlbaudoubled itsprofitonordinaryac-

tivities to Eur 9.9 million

• StageSystemsraiseditsprofitonordinary

activities by 19% to Eur 1.9 million

• In2009, thestage systems Group stood up

well to the turbulence generated by the eco-

nomic and financial crisis. For although this led

to a drop in sales of 20% to Eur 28.0 million

(2008: Eur 34.8 million), the Group was able to

raise its profit on ordinary activities by 19% to

Eur 1.9 million (2008: Eur 1.6 million), thereby

further enhancing its earnings power as a result

of a continuing improvement in efficiency.

Despite frequent project delays, order intake

remained largely stable at a total of Eur 33.0

million (2008: Eur 34.3 million). order backlog

at the year-end stood at Eur 34.9 million, which

was some 15% above the comparable value of

the previous year (December 31, 2008: Eur

30.4 million) and thus provides an extremely

solid platform for 2010. in view of the tense

general situation, this development is highly

satisfactory, as some 80% of Stage Systems

order volume derives from public sector cus-

tomers, who in recent months have often been

highly hesitant with regard to new contract al-

locations.

• Qualter, Hall & co ltd. developed in a most

positive manner during 2009, raising its sales

revenues markedly by 44% to Eur 19.9 million

(2008: Eur 13.8 million). on this basis, a fur-

ther improvement was also achieved in the

profit on ordinary activities to Eur 1.7 million

(2008: Eur 1.4 million).

qualter, Hall & Co order intake also showed a

striking increase, rising by 22% to Eur 35.2

million (2008: Eur 28.9 million). As a conse-

quence, order backlog at the end of the year

was 80% up on the value for the previous year

at Eur 37.9 million (December 31, 2008: Eur

21.1 million). The main reason for this marked

upturn was a large-scale mining equipment

project, which is scheduled to run for some

years.

in 2009, the uK subsidiary Qualter, Hall & co maintained its successful development:

• Furtherriseinsalesrevenuesandresult

• Renewedleapinorderintakeandbacklog

The multifunctional Arena reyno de Navarra in Pamplona is part of the “Plan Navarra 2012”, a governmental response to the economic crisis that is aimed at raising regional employment levels and competitiveness.

© TYM asociados

⁄ 51

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As at December 31, 2009, the companies of the

Waagner-Biro Group employed a workforce of

1,079, which represented an increase of 16% or

149 employees as compared to the end of the

preceding year. The Group thus demonstrated its

reliability as an employer even against the back-

drop of economic uncertainty. in particular, the

workforce was enlarged at the subsidiary in

qatar, where additional personnel were needed

for the wastewater business. Employee numbers

through out the remainder of the business areas

were largely stable.

Within the scope of the realisation of the Waagner-

Biro Group’s growth and internationalisation strat-

egy, employee qualifications and expertise consti-

tute one of the most important factors in sustained

business success. Therefore, regular and com-

prehensive training and further education repre-

sent absolute Group priorities. in 2009, the focus

was again on internal and external courses relat-

ing to technical innovations, project management

and improvements in the foreign language skills

of all employees.

The educational levels of the Group workforce

stand up well to international comparison. 38% of

the white-collar workers employed by Waagner-

Biro in Austria are university or “Fachhochschule”

(advanced colleges of applied sciences) graduates

and 41% have completed grammar school or a

higher vocational school. Around 90% of the blue-

collar workers employed in Austria have conclud-

ed apprenticeships.

Waagner-Biro created a far more attractive work-

ing environment for its employees in Vienna at

the beginning of 2010 with its transfer to highly

modern offices, which also offer greatly improved

transport connections.

HuMan resources

Workforce numbers

2006 2007 2008 2009

total 749 814 930 1,079

Stahlbau 514 579 673 788

Stage Systems 104 111 123 124

qualter, Hall & Co 129 121 131 133

Waagner-Biro AG (Holding) 2 3 3 34

Further education and training pro-grammes ensure an ongoing increase in Waagner-Biro employee know-how and motivation.

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ongoing innovation represents a major factor in

the consolidation and further development of the

strong market position of the Waagner-Biro Group.

A two-pronged approach has been adopted in this

connection, which on the one hand is directed to-

wards the special needs of individual projects and

their innovative solutions and on the other, the

further strengthening of Waagner-Biro’s general

technological leadership, in order to ensure fur-

ther market success. in addition to internal devel-

opment work, the Group relies on cooperation

with respected research bodies.

stahlbau

Waagner-Biro Stahlbau undertakes active cooper-

ation with universities, especially with regard to

the geometric optimisation of free form surfaces.

Particularly in this area, technological advance-

ment offers the best possible opportunities for

the implementation of complex, architectural so-

lutions and the realisation of cost advantages,

which thus simultaneously strengthen the Group’s

competitive position. in addition, Waagner-Biro

Stahlbau also has a focus on the exploration of

the possibilities offered by iT technical automa-

tion in the design area and thus facilitates the

quick and efficient planning of large-scale proj-

ects. in 2009, a marked acceleration was achieved

through CAD. Moreover, a focal point in the Bridge

Engineering division is the optimisation of panel

bridges. The goal in this area is to achieve even

greater tendering success through lower cost

production.

stage systems

increased customer advantages and user comfort

form the heart of Waagner-Biro Stage Systems’

ongoing product innovations and represent a key

factor in the further consolidation of the business

area’s technological and market leadership.

Long-term focal points in this regard include the

further development of computerised control

systems for small, easily installed and extend-

able modular stage equipment systems, as

well as the increased standardisation of exist-

ing products with a related reduction in costs

and production times. The introduction of 3D

CAD technology into the mechanical design

of stage equipment components and tele-

scopic seating stands proved highly suc-

cessful and decisive progress was made in

2009 with the further development of the

“virtual theatre”, a three-dimensional,

photo-realistic, stage machinery simula-

tion and visualisation system. This pro-

vides a significant improvement in plan-

ning quality and, in combination with

parametric design, creates a marked

increase in the efficiency of the stage

machinery design process. This sys-

tem is to be used for the first time in

2010 in the qatar Education City Con-

vention Centre. in addition, Waagner-

Biro Stage Systems has developed a

new acoustic banner for concert

halls, which has special reflection

and absorption characteristics that

allow facilities to be flexibly adjust-

ed to various types of events. in

2010, these banners will make

their debut at the National Con-

cert and Conference Centre in

reykjavik.

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environmental report

The Waagner-Biro Group’s production locations

comply with the respective national statutes. En-

gineering is completed in offices and is therefore

of limited environmental relevance. on-site as-

sembly largely takes place without any residues.

Therefore, the environmental focus is on the ef-

ficient use of resources and the selection of repu-

table suppliers. Corrosion protection constitutes

a major environmental consideration and when

selecting a method in this area, Waagner-Biro falls

into line with the recognised state-of-the-art.

adherence to legal statutes

During the design and realisation of technically

complex structures, adherence to statutory regu-

lations and standards is an absolute prerequisite.

in particular, Waagner-Biro regards work safety as

being of special importance. Compliance with all

relevant regulations and standards, which is fre-

quently a complicated process, is monitored and

documented by the individual Group business

areas in cooperation with an international network

of lawyers and tax experts, and the respective

quality management units.

non-Financial perForMance indicators

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General risk report

Technically complex projects come

in tandem with the risks typical of

plant engineering. The risks incurred

during activities in this business field

are generally greater than in other

branches. risk identification and man-

agement therefore constitute a major

element in Waagner-Biro business pro -

cedures. order intake and sales are

dependent upon a relatively small num-

ber of individual decisions and major fluc-

tuations are customary. Forecasts, includ-

ing those in this report, are thus subject to

standard branch uncertainty.

Among other assignments, Waagner-Biro

designs and builds complex structures,

which place great demands on engineering

capacity. Accordingly, the related technical

risks accepted can be seen as above average.

Equally, exceptional management, legal and

financial risks emanate from the complexity of

the projects. Waagner-Biro makes every effort

to recognise and master known risks by means

of internal and external audits, reviews and the

involvement of experts. in their various areas,

Waagner-Biro’s employees number among rec-

ognised specialists and one of the sources of

company strength is the ability to manage the im-

minent risks involved in its business. Nonetheless,

as compared to other industrial sectors the funda-

mental risks are greater.

risk system

The structure of the risk system used by the indi-

vidual Waagner-Biro Group business areas is sub-

sequently presented. it should be noted that

members of the Waagner-Biro AG Management

Board also exercise management or supervisory

board functions in the respective business areas

and therefore are involved in operative business,

as well as business that is subject to approval.

tendering processThe preparation of quotations is accompanied

technically, commercially and legally, and for ev-

ery major tender a risk analysis is prepared, from

which the appropriate measures are deduced.

project realisation processActivities take place in teams under the leader-

ship of a project manager. During regular team

meetings and technical reviews, existing risks are

analysed, countermeasures prepared and reports

made to the executive management. The latter is

informed immediately of risks posing a major po-

tential threat.

Material risksin addition, reports concerning material risks are

provided at regular meetings of the Management

Board. A standard reporting model is available for

the topics of liquidity, financing and ongoing legal

disputes.

risK report

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MeasuresDecisions are either made directly during project

discussions, or in Management Board meetings,

and then minuted.

Focal points in 2010 in 2010, the company’s high exposure to risk will

demand the ongoing, further development of risk

surveillance. This will again concentrate on the

tendering process and the internal control system,

but in view of the current financial crisis, will also

increasingly focus on the financial risks relating to

projects.

special risk report

price change risksWherever possible, price alteration clauses are

integrated into contracts and agreements with

suppliers and customers, in order to limit the im-

pact of risks that Waagner-Biro cannot control. At

the same time, Waagner-Biro minimises price al-

teration risks through the allocation of sub-con-

tracts and orders within a narrow time frame.

default risksDefault risks are hedged by the appropriate in-

surance or alternative measures.

liquidity risksMeasures needed to improve the liquidity situ-

ation are initiated on the basis of periodically

prepared liquidity forecast.

cash flow risksPayment defaults in the case of individual ma-

jor projects can have an immediate material

influence on company cash flow and are thus

linked to a corresponding risk. Therefore, re-

ports are made concerning the payments

and liquidity plan of every project during reg-

ular reviews. The executive management

are regularly informed about material pay-

ment defaults by debtors.

External and internal audits,

reviews and the involvement of external

specialists serve the targeted early recogni-

tion and management of company risks.

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1) All values, with the exception of the key figures regarding assets, have been adjusted for the Hunslet-Barclay business area liquidated in 2007 and the Binder+Co AG participation, which was sold off entirely at the end of February 2008


in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Stahlbau 63.8 122.8 104.1 141.9

Stage Systems 37.2 33.9 34.8 28.0

qualter, Hall & Co 20.2 18.2 13.8 19.9

intercompany sales/Miscellaneous 2.0 1.7 –1.1 2.6

Waagner-biro Group 123.2 176.6 151.6 192.4

sales revenues by business area

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Stahlbau 2.7 5.3 5.1 9.9

Stage Systems 0.9 1.1 1.6 1.9

qualter, Hall & Co 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.7

intercompany sales/Miscellaneous –3.2 –3.5 –0.7 –1.4


profit on ordinary activities2) by business area

KeY FiGures bY business area1)

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in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Stahlbau 116.8 129.4 145.7 104.3

Stage Systems 29.1 38.3 34.3 33.0

qualter, Hall & Co 21.5 19.8 28.9 35.2

intercompany transactions –1.7 –4.8 –2.6 0.2


order intake by business area

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Stahlbau 16.5 20.0 22.0 36.1

Stage Systems 12.3 14.3 18.6 21.1

qualter, Hall & Co 20.0 17.3 20.3 21.5


roe by business area

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Stahlbau 97.1 99.5 139.9 103.1

Stage Systems 26.5 30.9 30.4 34.9

qualter, Hall & Co 10.7 11.3 21.1 37.9

intercompany transactions – –3.0 –1.4 –


order backlog at year-end by business area

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Values 2009 by business area

sales revenues (in eur million)

Stahlbau 141.9

Stage Systems 28.0

qualter, Hall & Co 19.9

order intake (in eur million)

Stahlbau 104.3

Stage Systems 33.0


order backlog (in eur million)

Stahlbau 103.1

Stage Systems 34.9


employees (numbers)

Stahlbau 788

Stage Systems 124

qualter, Hall & Co 133

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on the basis of the satisfactory develop-

ments during recent years in the core

business areas of both the Stahlbau and

Stage Systems Groups and qualter, Hall

& Co, Waagner-Biro again anticipates

good performance in 2010, in spite of an

extremely difficult, general economic situ-

ation. As a consequence of the fall in de-

mand, which commenced in 2009 in a

number of areas, the Group will first feel

the full effects of the financial and econo-

mic crisis in 2010. However, having already

initiated a diversity of related measures, it is

well prepared for this situation. All in all, on

this foundation Waagner-Biro assumes it

will again achieve solid profits in 2010, alt-

hough these will lag behind the level of 2009,

which was far above average. order backlog

of Eur 175.9 million at the beginning of the

year secures good use of capacity.

Following the record order intake achieved in

2008, the stahlbau Group business area

was recently confronted by somewhat lower

key demand. Nonetheless, a notable order

volume was obtained as a result of intensive

market cultivation. While logically enough the

acquisition of new projects in the Steel and

Glass Engineering division is dependent upon

further economic developments, business in

the Bridge Engineering division should conti-

nue to expand. As a respected partner in both

areas, Waagner-Biro Stahlbau will continue to

step up its efforts in the direction of internatio-

nal diversification. in this connection, market

entry and a diversity of new projects in Africa

can be regarded as extremely positive. The high

levels of demand for panel and modular bridges,

as well as several orders from additional new

markets, permit the expectation of additional

strong growth. The demand for infrastructure

projects in indonesia and the Philippines remains

stable, although influenced by questions of fi-

nance. As in the past, the Bridge Engineering divi-

sion continues to be active in the markets of Cen-

tral and South America.

in spite of the economic turbulence, the stage systems business area was able to maintain sta-

ble order intake in 2009 with the result that a very

firm platform has been created for 2010. in additi-

on, at the turn of the year a number of contracts

were ready for signing. in general, orders from

Europe predominate, but at the same time for ex-

ample, three exciting projects are under way in

Japan, which Waagner-Biro Stage Systems was

able to capture in association with its local part-

ner. Moreover, although the propensity to invest

declined in the CiS and China, which to date were

two important growth markets, Poland emerged

as an interesting new market and was successful-

ly penetrated in cooperation with local companies,

as evidenced by an initial contract in Bialystok.

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems was again able to

obtain a diversity of orders in South America and

in future, the growth markets in Asia and the ne-

wer Eu member nations will be the focus of in-

tensive efforts. The Stage Systems Group also

aims to simultaneously further consolidate its po-

sition in its European core markets and the impor-

tant German market shows signs of again offering

greater potential in the coming years. Further-

more, in parallel moves, Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems intends to continue its initiatives aimed

at greater efficiency, while a special focus will re-

main on product and service innovations.

in 2009, Qualter, Hall & co ltd. put in a highly

satisfactory performance and due to its high order

backlog should be able to again improve its sales

revenues and result in 2010.

special events after the balance sheet date

No events of major significance with a material

influence on the company occurred between the

end of the financial year and the editorial closing

date of this report.

outlooK For 2010

HiGHliGHts 2009/ steel and Glass enGineerinG: Yas island Marina Hotel as tHe larGest sinGle project in coMpanY HistorY // bridGe enGineerinG: MarKet entrY in burKina Faso, GHana and alGeria // increase in sales reVenues bY 36% to eur 141.9 Million // proFit on ordinarY actiVities iM-proVed to eur 9.9 Million // solid order intaKe oF eur 103.1 Million secures use oF capacitY For 2010 /

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services portfolio

The Waagner-Biro Stahlbau AG bridge engineer-ing division covers the new construction, rebuild-

ing, widening, reinforcement and repair of bridg-

es. The services range incorporates the design,

supply and installation of steel and compound

structure support frameworks for system bridges

(modular truss and panel bridges) and architec-

tural bridges (fixed and movable bridges).

Moreover, movable steel structures in the build-

ing area, such as retractable roofs, are included in

the Bridge Engineering division portfolio. in addi-

tion to project business, in which Waagner-Biro

can point to 150 years of experience, the Service

& Maintenance division is developing into an in-

creasingly important business source. These ser-

vices are available in the bridge engineering, hy-

draulic steel structure, crane construction, mast

and directional radio engineering and industrial

maintenance areas.

Key figures

in Mio. eur 2006 2007 2008 2009

Sales revenues 63.8 122.8 104.1 141.9

Profit on ordinary activities1) 2.7 5.3 5.1 9.9

roS (%) 4.2 4.3 4.9 7.0

roE (%) 16.5 20.0 22.0 36.1

Consolidated result 1.7 11.5 3.6 7.2

order intake 116.8 129.4 145.7 104.3

order backlog 97.1 99.5 139.9 103.1

Employees as at December 31 (number) 514 579 673 788


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Waagner-Biro Stahlbau’s steel and Glass engi-neering division is specialised in steel and glass

structures and realises technically and statically

demanding designs from leading architects. Com-

prehensive services in the maintenance, refur-

bishment and modification areas are also avail-

able.

business development 2009

The outstanding development of the Stahlbau

Group business area during the past year was

largely responsible for the sharp rise in overall

Group sales revenues and result. This improve-

ment was due primarily to further intensive ef-

forts within existing markets and the successful

penetration of new markets. in total Waagner-Biro

Stahlbau Group sales revenues increased by no-

table 36% to Eur 141.9 million (2008: Eur 104.1

million). The profit on ordinary activities grew size-

ably to Eur 9.9 million (2008: Eur 5.1 million).

The consolidated net result for the year amount-

ed to Eur 7.2 million and was also far above that

of the preceding year (2008: Eur 3.6 million).

Equity rose from Eur 23.2 million to Eur 27.4

million, which resulted in an equity ratio of 29%

(December 31, 2008: 25.3%).

With roE of 36.1%, Waagner-

Biro Stahlbau has clearly ex-

ceeded the Group’s strategic tar-

get of a figure of at least 25% in

the reporting year 2009.

Stahlbau Group order intake, which

rose sharply in 2008 due mainly to

the Yas island Marina Hotel project,

fell back in 2009 by 28% to Eur

104.3 million (2008: Eur 145.7 mil-

lion) and thus as a result of the eco-

nomic situation was below the long-

term average. Accordingly, order

backlog as at December 31, 2009 was

Eur 103.1 million under the record

level of the preceding year (December

31, 2008: Eur 139.9 million). Nonethe-

less, this means that use of resources

remains secure.

bridge engineering division continues to grow and pursue its internationali-sation strategyin the Bridge Engineering division,

Waagner-Biro continues to enjoy great

success in Africa and is systematically add-

ing new markets to its portfolio. Following

entry into the Moroccan and Angolan mar-

kets, in 2009 initial bridges were supplied to

Burkina Faso, Ghana and Algeria, and at pres-

ent intensive activities are continuing in the

Nigerian market. Thus the decision to work in

this region is repeatedly reaffirmed. The de-

mand for infrastructure projects in indonesia

and the Philippines remained stable, however

business is extremely dependent upon financ-

ing, which in recent years has become slightly

more difficult. Enquiries from the Middle and

Far East, as well as projects in Central and South

America, are also being closely followed up. one

Modular bridges from Waagner-Biro constitute a flexible and extendable system, which can be precisely matched to special, individual customer require-ments.

64 ⁄

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highly pleasing order intake in 2009 relates to the

Golden Horn Bridge in Turkey, which will span

the entrance to the Bosporus. in Austria, several

maintenance orders from key accounts such as

the Wiener Linien and a contract for the con-

struction of two pipeline bridges as part of the

enlargement of the Mellach power plant, un-

derlined the increasing potential available in

this area.

in total the Bridge Engineering division was

able to increase sales revenues as well as

order backlog.

Waagner-biro Gulf demonstrates solid developmentApart from the marked loss of economic im-

petus in Dubai, in 2009 Waagner-Biro Gulf

developed in a thoroughly sound manner.

To a large extent, this was due to the fact

that Waagner-Biro has long been active in

other emirates and has thus achieved a tar-

geted spread of its regional presence. in

general, the Arab World remains an attrac-

tive market, albeit with a shift in empha-

ses. Abu Dhabi, where Waagner-Biro Gulf

completed a very interesting project in

2009 with the ADNEC pedestrian bridge,

is now in the spotlight. During 2009, the

wastewater treatment plant in Al Khor,

which is the first to be built by Waagner-

Biro in qatar, went into operation and a

further plant was ordered at the end of

2009. The markets in oman, Saudi Arabia

and other countries in the region were

also subject to intensive activity.

in general, Waagner-Biro sees the trend to-

wards products with greater sustainability,

such as wastewater technology, as most

positive because a lasting sales base can

thus be created. As the support of environ-

mental awareness and targeted investments

constitute declared objectives of the govern-

ments of the united Arab Emirates, these

areas also offer great potential for the future.

in 2009, Waagner-Biro Gulf continued to enjoy

supplementary success in the embankment

construction area (marine works).

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All in all, in 2009 Waagner-Biro Gulf was able to

raise its sales revenues considerably.

steel and Glass engineering division sales rev-enues rise sharplyin 2009, the Steel and Glass Engineering division

achieved a massive rise in sales revenues. in ad-

dition to the roof of the Yas island Marina Hotel in

Abu Dhabi, which was completed in 2009 and

constituted the largest single order to date in the

history of the company, the Sun Tower, an exclu-

sive viewing tower adjacent to the new Yas

Marina Circuit Formula 1 track, also played an in-

fluental role. in addition, work continued on the

Capital Gate project, which is also located in Abu

Dhabi, while in Dubai, the erection of three en-

trance pavilions for the Burj Khalifa, the world’s

tallest building, was concluded on schedule.

in 2009, Waagner-Biro successfully completed its

first project in ireland in the shape of the impres-

sive atrium for the Spencer Dock in Dublin. in

England, work on the 2 Kingdom Street project

was finished and two new projects for the olym-

pic Games 2012 in London were started. other

interesting projects received during the past year

included the roofing of one of the courts in the

Paris Louvre and the facade of “The Blob” shop-

ping centre in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. An

initial steel and glass engineering contract for the

entrance to Baku Airport was also obtained from

Azerbaijan.

in view of the global slowdown in demand, order

intake in the Steel and Glass Engineering division

in 2009 was clearly below the well above-average

record value of the previous year. However, order

backlog as at December 31, 2009 creates a solid

platform for 2010.

Abu Dhabi has become a boom market for Waagner-Biro, the company having not only completed the Yas island Marina Hotel, but also the exclusive Sun Tower, which offers views of the city.

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

service & Maintenance successfully further ex-pandedFollowing the successful extension of fledgling

Service & Maintenance activities in the Steel and

Glass Engineering division in Austria and Germany

to the uK in 2008, business in this area continued

to develop in a positive manner in 2009. With re-

gard to the planned expansion of this business to

other markets, Waagner-Biro is focusing mainly

on its own past projects.

outlook for 2010

in 2010, the Waagner-Biro Stahlbau Group will be

unable to emulate the record results of the previ-

ous year. However, it nonetheless looks to the

future with optimism and in particular, the order

backlog of Eur 103.1 million at the beginning of

the year offers a stable foundation for sound per-

formance.

While logically enough, the acquisition of new

Steel and Glass Engineering division projects

naturally depends upon further economic devel-

opments, Bridge Engineering should continue to

develop well. Waagner-Biro Stahlbau is much in

demand as a specialist in both areas and will thus

in 2010, the focus for Waagner-Biro Stahlbau will be on intensive activities in all markets.

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continue to further step up its efforts in the direc-

tion of international diversification.

in this regard, market entry and a diversity of new

projects in Africa can be seen as very positive.

The high demand for panel and modular bridges

and several orders from additional markets permit

the expectation of strong growth. Bridge busi-

ness expansion in Asia should also be possible as

a result of intensive market cultivation in Korea,

Taiwan and Bangladesh. Demand for infrastruc-

ture projects in indonesia and the Philippines re-

mained stable, but is highly dependent upon the

appropriate financing possibilities. The markets of

Central and South America continued to be a fo-

cus of interest for the Bridge Engineering division

and in addition, projects involving large moving

bridges in the Middle East are in the preparation

phase. Thus, on the basis of the great need for

infrastructure in its diverse target markets, the

division should again succeed in achieving sat-

isfactory sales revenues development in

2010.

in view of the tense economic situation, the

Steel and Glass Engineering division will

clearly rely upon its excellent reputation as a

reliable partner for the planning and realisa-

tion of demanding architectural structures,

especially in complex surroundings such

as inner city locations, and in connection

with problematic logistical challenges.

Above all, on this platform, the Steel and

Glass Engineering division is looking to

attain a sustained improvement in its

sales revenues and result through fur-

ther market diversification.

in the Middle East, via its subsidiary,

Waagner-Biro Gulf, the Group again

presented itself as a serious partner,

primarily with regard to larger proj-

ects in the bridge construction field.

Moreover, the trend towards proj-

ects involving greater sustainability

such as wastewater treatment

plants is of major significance and

forms a basis for long-term sales.

Last but not least, as a result of

the diversification of the Group’s

local presence, the importance

of the markets in Abu Dhabi,

qatar and other states of the re-

gion, has grown considerably.

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HiGHliGHts 2009/ nuMerous interestinG neW contracts // successFul MarKet entrY in poland // oWinG to tHe crisis, sales reV-enues dip bY 20% to eur 28.0 Million // proFit on ordinarY actiVities neVer-tHeless up bY 19% at eur 1.9 Million // order intaKe stable at eur 33.0 Million in spite oF tHe crisis /

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services portfolio

The Waagner-Biro Stage Systems Group offers a

comprehensive portfolio in the fields of Stage

Equipment, intelligent Arena Technology, and Ser-

vice & Maintenance. in the core Stage Equipment

division, it provides a complete range of technical

systems for large, medium-sized and small stag-

es. in addition to key activities relating to the

equipping of theatres and opera houses, above all

the supply of stage and event technol ogy for

cruise liners and event centres numbers among

the Group’s growth areas.

in the Service & Maintenance division, over 200

theatres, opera houses and event centres world-

wide rely on experienced Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems service personnel for the maintenance

of their stage equipment. Furthermore, since

2008, Stage Systems has also offered the servic-

ing and modernisation of cranes previously deliv-

ered by the Waagner-Biro Group.

Key figures

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Sales revenues 37.2 33.9 34.8 28.0


roS (%) 2.4 3.2 4.6 6.8

roE (%) 12.3 14.3 18.6 21.1

Consolidated result3) –0.9 0.4 1.1 0.9

order intake 29.1 38.3 34.3 33.0

order backlog 26.5 30.9 30.4 34.9



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result continues to improve in spite of a fall in sales revenues Although Waagner-Biro Stage Systems Group

sales fell during the 2009 financial year by 20% to

Eur 28.0 million (2008: Eur 34.8 million) as a

result of project delays caused by the global

economic crisis, it was nonetheless able to in-

crease its earnings power. Accordingly, in spite of

the dip in sales, the profit on ordinary activities

rose by a further 19% to Eur 1.9 million (2008:

Eur 1.6 million). Thus Group efforts in the areas

of increased efficiency and risk management

again proved successful. Equity was also higher

at Eur 9.0 million (December 31, 2008: Eur 8.6

million), whereby the equity ratio also rose from

38.1% to 44.1%.

Despite the tangible reticence of potential cus-

tomers, order intake in 2009 was kept at a largely

stable overall level of Eur 33.0 million (2008: Eur

34.3 million). in view of the tense general situa-

tion, this development is extremely pleasing, as in

the case of stage equipment, some 80% of or-

ders relate to public sector clients, who recently

have displayed great hesitancy with regard to the

allocation of new contracts. Partly due to the cri-

sis-related postponement of the realisation of in-

dividual projects, order backlog at the end of the

year stood at Eur 34.9 million,

which was higher than the com-

parable figure for the preceding

year (December 31, 2008: Eur

30.4 million) and offers a firm plat-

form for 2010.

business division developmentin 2009, stage equipment, which

covers the supply of technical sys-

tems to opera houses, theatres and

ships, once again provided by far the

largest contribution to sales revenues

in the Stage Systems Group. Among

the largest and most important proj-

ects in terms of sales revenues during

the past year, were the supply of the

technical stage equipment for the Na-

tional Concert and Conference Centre in

reykjavik, which in the meantime has

been virtually completed, the qatar Edu-

cation City Convention Centre, the State

Theatre in Schwerin, Germany, and the

Marble room of the Kremlin in Moscow.

other interesting projects in the year un-

der review comprised extensive modifica-

tions to the Ljubljana opera House, which

were finished in just twelve months, and

the modernisation of the stage systems in

the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn in Vienna.

Large-scale new orders in 2009 included the

Podlaska opera Bialystok, Teatro Municipal

rio de Janeiro and old Theatre Skopje proj-

ects. Moreover, with an order for the Worms

Culture and Conference Centre, Waagner-Biro

was again successful in the highly competitive

German market, while in South America, the

Group was once more able to capture a number

of contracts.

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems is a tried and trusted partner of the tradition-rich Vienna State opera.

72 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

The most important project realised by intel-ligent arena engineering in 2009 were the

telescopic seating stands for the Centro Cul-

tural Federico García Lorca in Granada. The

division also snapped up an interesting new

order in Pamplona, Spain, with an innovative

concept for an event facility. During the period

under review, the switch of telescopic seat-

ing stand design to modern CAD standards

completed in 2008, which represented a sig-

nificant investment in the future of this strate-

gically important division, continued to pay

dividends.

The services & Maintenance division again

developed in an excellent manner and made

another sustainable contribution to the suc-

cess of the Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

Group with long-term contracts. in 2009, the

division’s sales revenues represented a fur-

ther increase of some 12%, this corresponds

to a share of total sales revenue of the Stage

Systems Group of 14.7%. The development

of new business activities, such as the main-

tenance and updating of cranes originally sup-

plied by the Waagner-Biro Group, also opened

up additional interesting perspectives, a fact

underlined by the retrofits carried out on

cranes at power plants in Austria and Costa

rica during 2009.

core market position remains strongin spite of the unstable economic climate of

the past year, Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

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was able to successfully complete a number

of attractive projects in Europe and thus con-

solidate its position in its fundamental areas

of activity. in this connection, the European

core and domestic markets in general and

Austria, Germany and Spain in particular,

once again made the largest contributions to

Group sales revenues with a share of

around 38%. A further 20% derived

from the rest of Europe, especially from

iceland and russia, which underscores

the Group’s powerful market standing

in this region.

Growing success in growth marketsThe active cultivation of target and poten-

tial markets again proved effective in

2009. For example, at present Waagner-

Biro Stage Systems is looking after three

desirable projects in Japan, which were

obtained jointly with its local partner,

Sanken Engineering. During the past year,

Poland also proved to be an interesting

market and in cooperation with local firms,

Waagner-Biro was able to successfully cap-

ture an initial project in Bialystok. South

America continues to offer attractive poten-

tial, as evidenced by contracts received from

Argentina and Brazil during the period under

review. By contrast, there has been a marked

decline in the propensity to invest in the CiS,

although Waagner-Biro nevertheless captured

an order for the technical systems in a confer-

ence room at the Kremlin.

in total, during 2009 some 38% of overall Stage

Equipment division sales revenues derived

from the regions designated as target markets.

The main contracts in this regard were the Me-

dium Theatre in the Chongqing Cultural Centre,

the qatar Education City Convention Centre and

the Marble Hall in the Kremlin in Moscow.

one of the most interesting and closely watched contracts in 2009, involved the replacement of the over stage equipment of the historical Schönbrunn Schlosstheater in Vienna.

in 2009, one of the most important Stage Systems business area projects was the Medium Theatre in Chongqing, China.

74 ⁄

in 2009, business involving stage equip-

ment for ships was again characterised

by modernisation projects. Following

the “Legend of the Seas” and “Vision of

the Seas” cruise liners, during the period

under review, the fitting of the “Splen-

dour of the Seas” with the latest genera-

tion of stage equipment control systems

was on the programme.

outlook for 2010

With order backlog of Eur 34.9 million at

the beginning of the year, the Stage Systems

business area has an extremely stable plat-

form for 2010. in addition, at the turn of the

year several contracts were ready for signing

and on the editorial closing date for this report,

orders with a volume of Eur 9.5 million had

actually been received. As a result, from a cur-

rent perspective it should be possible to repeat

the level of sales revenues achieved in 2008

(Eur 34.8 million) in 2010.

Nonetheless, reticence must be expected with

regard to the allocation of new orders in the Stage

Systems area, as the bulk of clients can be classi-

fied as belonging to the public sector, which re-

cently has displayed great caution with regard to

new investments in the cultural field. This has

naturally led to increased competitive and price

pressure, which confronts suppliers in the premi-

um quality segment, such as Waagner-Biro Stage

Systems, with fresh challenges. Therefore, tar-

geted sales activities are of increased significance

and in future, the Group will continue its intensive

activities in the growth markets of Asia and the

newer Eu states. The subsidiaries founded in

China in 2006 and in the russian Federation in

2007 will step up their efforts in these markets,

even though the impetus for investment in both

countries has weakened considerably. The Gulf

The active cultivation of core and target markets should enable the Waagner-Biro Stage Systems Group to again achieve increased sales revenues in 2010.

© TYM asociados

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region is to be opened up with the support of

the other Waagner-Biro Group companies ac-

tive locally, while at the same time, Stage

Systems’ position in its European core mar-

kets is to be further consolidated. in this re-

gard, the important German market is again

showing signs of increased potential for

the coming years.

The Services & Maintenance business

area is also of growing significance as a

source of sales and earnings. The large

volume of stage equipment installed by

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems all over

Europe constitutes a sound basis for

the acquisition of long-term services

& maintenance contracts. in addi-

tion, the Services & Maintenance

business area is also extending its acquisition

efforts in a targeted manner to include new seg-

ments, which offer the promise of synergies with

existing activities.

At the same time, Waagner-Biro Stage Systems

is to maintain its initiatives aimed at greater effi-

ciency. A special focus will continue to be placed

on product and service innovations and in 2010

the Group will again rely on cost-optimised prod-

uct packages.

Challenges such as movable stands in the Arena and Sports Palace Madrid constitute important references for the acquisition of new orders.

HiGHliGHts 2009/ Major order in tHe MininG tecHnol-oGY Field lastinG seVeral Years // FurtHer iMproVeMent in sales reVenues and result // order intaKe and bacKloG clearlY up on tHe preVious Year /

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Qualter, Hall & co ltd.

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⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Key figures

in eur million 2006 2007 2008 2009

Sales revenues 20.2 18.2 13.8 19.9


roS (%) 7.4 7.7 10.1 8.5

roE (%) 20.0 17.3 20.3 21.5

Net result 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.4

order intake 21.5 19.8 28.9 35.2

order backlog 10.7 11.3 21.1 37.9



Qualter, Hall & co ltd.

in spite of the economic downturn in the uK, qualter, Hall & Co Ltd., a fully owned Waagner-Biro AG subsidiary, was again able to record an excellent result in 2009.

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services portfolio

The uK subsidiary, qualter, Hall & Co Ltd., is ac-

tive in the areas of movable bridges, mechanical

engineering, mining machinery, conveying sys-

tems, shipbuilding equipment and contract pro-

duction.


Even in the generally inclement economic climate

of 2009, qualter, Hall & Co Ltd. was able to con-

tinue its sound progress of the preceding years

and achieve improvements in all its key figures.

Sales revenues increased markedly from Eur

13.8 million to Eur 19.9 million and the profit on

ordinary activities was also clearly up on that of

the previous year at Eur 1.7 million (2008: Eur

1.4 million). Thus, the measures initiated in past

years for increased efficiency demonstrated du-

rable success. At Eur 35.2 million, order intake

rose sharply and was 22% higher than the Eur

28.9 million of 2008. Accordingly, order backlog at

the end of the year was up on the figure for the

preceding year by 80% at Eur 37.9 million

(December 31, 2008: Eur 21.1 million) and thus

furnishes a firm basis for the new financial year.

The most important projects of the past year

were the erection of a steel pedestrian bridge in

Kingston upon Hull (Yorkshire, uK), the produc-

tion of wagon parts for Bombardier and the

manufacture of radiation-resistant containers

for the nuclear power industry. Among the new

orders received in 2009, a major contract for

materials handling technology lasting several

years, which was obtained from a coalmine, is

worthy of special note.

outlook for 2010

in view of the continuation of positive sales

revenues and earnings development, as well

as the clear increase in order backlog, the

outlook for qualter, Hall & Co Ltd. in 2010

continues to be highly positive. As a conse-

quence, the company should remain able to

provide stable contributions to Group sales

revenues and results.

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consolidated Financial stateMents 2009

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⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

eur eur eur eur teur

a. non-current assets

i. iNTANGiBLE ASSETS

1. Capitalised development costs (1) 1,138,000 1,537

2. industrial property rights (1) 4,865,000 5,462

3. Goodwill (1) 30,045,000 23,288

36,048,000 30,287

ii. ProPErTY, PLANT AND EquiPMENT

1. Land and buildings, including buildings on land by others (2)

Land 45,000 42

Buildings 1,924,000 1,864

1,969,000 1,906

2. Technical plant and machinery (2) 4,226,000 3,235

3. other equipment, fixtures and furnishings (2) 1,185,000 1,238

4. Prepayments and assets under construction (2) 157,000 152

7,537,000 6,531

iii. FiNANCiAL ASSETS

1. interests in Group companies (3) 221,000 203

2. Securities and similar instruments held as non-current assets (3) 853,000 851

3. other loans (3) 679,000 872

1,753,000 1,926

iV. DEFErrED TAXES (7), (13) 5,314,000 7,183

50,652,000 45,927

b. current assets

i. iNVENToriES

1. raw materials and consumables (4) 3,760,000 3,691

2. Finished products (4) 3,273,000 3,309

3. Merchandise held for resale (4) 177,000 169

4. Work in progress (4) 64,000 89

5. Prepayments (4) 657,000 2,414

6. less: prepayments received (4) –721,000 –2,503

7,210,000 7,169

ii. oTHEr ASSETS

1. Trade receivables (5) 67,522,000 62,356

2. receivables from Group companies (5) 209,000 524

3. other receivables and assets (5) 4,153,000 11,229

4. other accruals (7) 646,000 465

5. Cash in hand and bank balances (6) 8,695,000 9,715

81,225,000 84,289

88,435,000 91,458

total assets 139,087,000 137,385

assetsas at

Dec 31, 2008as at

Dec 31, 2009

consolidated balance sHeet as at deceMber 31, 2009 – iFrs

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eur eur eur teur

a. capital and reserVes

i. SHArE CAPiTAL (8) 7,000,000 7,000

ii. rESErVES (8) 27,161,000 21,925

iii. MiNoriTY iNTErESTS (9) 868,000 1,484

35,029,000 30,409

b. lonG-terM debt

i. ProViSioNS

1. Provisions for severance benefits (10) 4,642,000 4,337

2. Provisions for pensions (10) 1,169,000 1,197

Deferred taxes (13) 0 5

3. other non-current provisions (10), (12) 7,174,000 6,016

12,985,000 11,555

ii. LiABiLiTiES

1. Liabilities to banks (11) 6,713,000 9,491

Prepayments received on account of orders 0 303

2. Accounts payable trade (14) 1,715,000 1,195

3. other liabilities (16) 466,000 689

8,894,000 11,678

21,879,000 23,233

c. sHort-terM debt

i. ProViSioNS

1. Tax provisions (12) 797,000 203

2. other current provisions (12) 20,868,000 10,448

21,665,000 10,651

ii. LiABiLiTiES

1. Liabilities to banks (11) 26,707,000 30,222

2. Prepayments received on account of orders 8,045,000 11,325

3. Accounts payable trade (14) 20,990,000 24,962

4. Liabilities to Group companies (15) 33,000 73

5. other liabilities (16) 3,668,000 5,983

6. Accruals (16) 1,071,000 527

60,514,000 73,092

82,179,000 83,743

total equity and liabilities 139,087,000 137,385

Contingent liabilities 663,000 1,243

eQuitY and liabilitiesas at

Dec 31, 2008as at

Dec 31, 2009

84 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

consolidated incoMe stateMent For tHe Year FroM januarY 1 until deceMber 31, 2009 – iFrs

2009 2009 2008 2008

eur eur eur eur

1. Sales revenues (17) 192,356,000 151,626

2. Changes in inventories of finished and unfinished goods and in services not yet invoiced –47,000 2,965

3. other own work capitalised 379,000 659

4. other operating income (18) 2,180,000 2,993

194,868,000 158,243

5. Materials and other purchased services (4) –111,969,000 –87,642

6. Staff costs (20) –37,522,000 –33,511

7. Depreciation and amortisation (1), (2) –3,294,000 –2,569

8. other operating expenses (19) –28,679,000 –26,148

–181,464,000 –149,870

9. operating result before non-recurring items 13,404,000 8,373

10. operating result after non-recurring items (ebit) 13,404,000 8,373

11. Financial result (21), (22) –1,271,000 –984

12. earnings before tax (ebt) 12,133,000 7,389

13. Taxes on income (13)

a) Current taxes on income –1,395,000 –736

b) Deferred taxes on income –1,938,000 –3,333,000 –3,881 –4,617

14. profit after tax 8,800,000 2,772

15. other shareholders’ share in profit/loss –228,000 –571

16. profit after minorities 8,572,000 2,201

Profit or loss from discontinued divisions (23) 0 15,333

17. consolidated profit for the year 8,572,000 17,534

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consolidated coMpreHensiVe incoMe stateMent For tHe Year FroM januarY 1 until deceMber 31, 2009 – iFrs

2009 2008

eur teur

1. Profit after tax 8,800,000 2,772

2. Exchange differences on translating foreign operations 131,000 –1,869

3. Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined pension/benefit schemes 0 0

4. Available for sale financial assets 0 0

5. other comprehensive income, net of tax –35,000 –288

6. consolidated result before minority interests 8,896,000 615

7. Profit or loss from discontinued divisions 0 15,333

8. other shareholders’ share in profit / loss –228,000 –571

9. total consolidated result 8,668,000 15,377

86 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

2009 2008

teur teur

cash flow from operations

(+/–) Profit before tax (EBT) 12,133 7,389

(+/–) Minority shareholders’ share in profit/loss –228 –571

(+/–) Profit/loss on disposal of non-current assets –3 –138

(+/–) Depreciation/revaluation of non-current assets 3,293 2,563

(+/–) Changes in non-current provisions 1,430 111

cash flow from operating activities 16,625 9,354

(+/–) Changes in inventories including prepayments –41 –4,117

(+/–) Changes in trade receivables, other receivables and accruals 3,913 59

(+/–) Changes in trade liabilites, other liabilities and accruals –9,069 6,688

(+/–) Changes in current provisions 11,014 –9,214

(+/–) Changes in deferred taxes not affecting cash –1,938 –3,881

(–) Tax payments –1,395 –736

(+/–) Changes in equity not affecting profits 47 –1,586

(+/–) Exchange rate differences –185 1,093

net cash flow from operating activities (ocF) 18,971 –2,340

(–) investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible non-current assets –9,878 –2,271

(–) investments in financial assets –17 –48

(+) Proceeds from disposals of property, plant and equipment and intangible non-current assets 3 154

(+) Proceeds from disposals of financial assets 193 192

(+) Cash flow from discontinued divisions (23) 0 20,854

net cash flow from/used in investing activities (icF) –9,699 18,881

(+/–) Proceeds from and repayment of financial liabilities –6,293 6,129

(–) redemption of mezzanine capital 0 –1,201

(–) Distributions to shareholders –3,432 –17,160

(–) Distributions to minority shareholders –567 0

net cash flow from/used in financing activities (FcF) –10,292 –12,232

net change in cash and cash equivalents –1,020 4,309

(+) Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 9,715 5,369

(+) Cash and cash equivalents acquired with subsidiaries 0 37

(–) Cash and cash equivalents at end of year 8,695 9,715

change –1,020 4,309

consolidated casH FloW stateMent – iFrs

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Share capital

revenue reserves

Accumu-lated

profits

Net profit for the year

Currency translation

Total Minority interests

Total Equity

teur teur teur teur teur teur teur teur

as at december 31, 2007 7,000 2,897 5,268 19,412 –1,969 32,608 7,855 40,463

Change of accounting method 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dividends 0 0 0 –17,160 0 –17,160 0 –17,160

Capital increase 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Consolidated result 0 0 226 17,308 0 17,534 571 18,105

Changes in scope of consolidation 0 0 –1,746 0 0 –1,746 –7,096 –8,842

Adjustment due to previous years' errors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Exchange rate changes 0 0 0 0 –1,869 –1,869 0 –1,869

other changes 0 0 –1,558 1,116 0 –442 154 –288

as at december 31, 2008 7,000 2,897 2,190 20,676 –3,838 28,925 1,484 30,409

Change of accounting method 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Dividends 0 0 0 –3,432 0 –3,432 –567 –3,999

Capital increase 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Consolidated result 0 0 3 8,569 0 8,572 228 8,800

Changes due to acquisitions 0 0 0 0 0 0 –277 –277

Adjustment due to previous years' errors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Exchange rate changes 0 0 0 0 131 131 0 131

other changes 0 0 235 –270 0 –35 0 –35

as at december 31, 2009 7,000 2,897 2,428 25,543 –3,707 34,161 868 35,029

balance sheet as at december 31, 2009

7,000 0 27,161 0 0 34,161 868 35,029

consolidated eQuitY scHedule – iFrs

88 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Waagner-Biro Aktiengesellschaft is an Austrian

company registered in Vienna. its principal object

is the retention of holdings in medium-sized, na-

tional and international mechanical engineering,

steel construction and plant building enterprises.

Waagner-Biro Aktiengesellschaft and its subsid-

iaries (hereafter referred to as the “Waagner-Biro

Group”) are leading producers of technical sys-

tems in the structural steel engineering area and

work in the strategic business segments com-

prised by Stahlbau, Stage Systems and qualter,

Hall & Co. The company’s headquarters are in

Vienna. The company is the ultimate parent com-

pany of the Waagner-Biro Group.

The major markets are in the CEE states, the Gulf

region and Asia.

The average number of employees in the Group

was 968 in 2009 and 890 in 2008. The Manage-

ment Board is responsible for the preparation of

consolidated financial statements, which are sub-

mitted to the Supervisory Board for acknowledge-

ment.

1. tHe coMpanY

notes to tHe consolidated Financial stateMentsas at deceMber 31, 2009

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2.1. accounting principles

Pursuant to Section 245a Austrian Commercial

Code (unternehmensgesetzbuch/uGB), the con-

solidated financial statements of the Waagner-

Biro Group as at December 31, 2009 have been

prepared in accordance with the international Fi-

nancial reporting Standards (iFrS) published by

the international Accounting Standards Board

(iASB) together with the interpretations of the

Standing interpretations Committee (SiC) appli-

cable at the time. The companies included in con-

solidation are the parent company, Waagner-Biro

Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna, and the subsidiaries in

which it has a controlling interest. The consolidat-

ed financial statements are in conformity with the

European union Directive on consolidated ac-

counts (Directive 83/349/EEC).

The structure and designations used in the con-

solidated financial statements has been adjusted

to match iAS 1.

The accounts of the companies included in the

consolidated financial statements are prepared in

accordance with the uniform accounting regula-

tions of the Waagner-Biro Group.

The amounts in the consolidated financial state-

ments are rounded to the nearest 1,000 euros

(“TEur”, arithmetical rounding). The totals of

rounded amounts and percentages may be af-

fected by rounding differences caused by soft-

ware.

With the exception of provisions, items in the

consolidated financial statements are valued at

the cost of acquisition. As a rule, provisions (in-

cluding provisions for personnel) are reported at

current values.

2.2. Methods and scope of consolidation

Consolidation is effected by eliminating the cost

of acquisition (= carrying value) and the newly val-

ued, proportionate share of the equity held in each

investment at the time of acquisition. The remain-

ing asset side differences are recognised as good-

will.

iFrS 3 is applied with respect to goodwill. Good-

will is not subject to scheduled depreciation, but

to an annual impairment test as defined in iAS 36.

The rules of iFrS 3 were also applied retroactively

to the previous business years.

During the preparation of the annual financial

statements, the rules of iFrS 5 were applied to

business areas from strategic business segments

that have been sold off and/or discontinued. The

result from the discontinued business areas is re-

ported separately in the income statement. The

separate reporting of the results of the sold off

and/or discontinued business areas pursuant to

iFrS 5.33, as well as the reporting of the cash

flow statement for these business areas, is made

in the notes to the items of the balance sheet and

income statement in note (23). The earnings per

share are presented separately for the continued

and discontinued business areas according to iAS

33.9 and iAS 33.68.

2. accountinG and Valuation principles

90 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

As at December 31, 2009, the scope of consolidation included the following companies:

parent company

Waagner-Biro Aktiengesellschaft, Vienna

subsidiaries

AuSTriA

Waagner-Biro Stahlbau AG, Vienna 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro Austria Stage Systems AG, Vienna 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro immobilienverwaltungs GmbH, Linz 100.0 %

WBB Stahl- und Maschinenbau AG i.A., Linz 100.0 %

WBB Fassadentechnik GmbH i.A., Vienna 100.0 %

iNTErNATioNAL

P.T. Waagner-Biro, indonesia, ri 100.0 %

Waagner Biro Philippines inc., rP 100.0 %

Waagner Biro Limited, GB 100.0 %

Waagner Biro Gulf L.L.C., uAE 100.0 %

Waagner Biro qatar WLL, qatar 100.0 %

qualter, Hall & Co Ltd., GB 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro Bavaria Stage Systems GmbH, D 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro Luxembourg Stage Systems S.A., L 51.0 %

Waagner-Biro Spain Stage Systems S.A., E 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro uK Stage Systems Ltd., GB 100.0 %

Jenbacher Holdings (uK) plc., GB 97.0 %

The following companies are not consolidated for reasons of immateriality:

Waagner-Biro Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Vienna 100.0 %

Waagner Biro Spólka z o.o., PL 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro Bin Butti Engineering L.L.C., uAE 100.0 %

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., CHN 100.0 %

ooo “Waagner-Biro St. Petersburg Stage Systems”, ruS 100.0 %

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With effect from February 16, 2009, Waagner-

Biro Stahlbau AG repurchased the equal share-

holdings of the Herbert Liaunig Private Trust and

the Albona Private Trust in Waagner Biro Gulf

L.L.C. (total 25.15%). The purchase price amount-

ed to TEur 7,000.

2.4. currency translation

transactions in foreign currenciesin the individual annual financial statements of

consolidated Group companies, transactions in

foreign currencies are translated into the respec-

tive functional currency of the company at the

rate of exchange on the date of the transaction.

Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from

translation on the transaction and balance sheet

dates are recognised in the consolidated income

statement. Wherever possible, currency risks are

hedged by means of forward exchange transac-

tions. recognised foreign exchange gains in 2009

amounted to TEur 1,116 (2008: TEur 702).

offsetting of exchange rate differencesValues from the preceding year have been adjust-

ed in the current financial statements. The ex-

penses and income emanating from exchange

rate differences, which to date had not been off-

set, were offset and only the surplus reported.

The currencies involved demonstrate a balance

between claims and obligations (so-called closed,

eligible foreign exchange positions from cover-

able asset- and liabilities-side items).

translation of individual foreign currency financial statementsThe Group currency is the euro. Pursuant to iAS

21, the annual financial statements recognised in

the consolidated financial statements and pre-

pared in foreign currencies are translated into eu-

ros by applying the concept of functional currency.

The functional currency of all companies is the rel-

evant national currency, due to the fact that the

companies carry out their business independently

with respect to financial, commercial and organi-

sational matters. Assets and liabilities are trans-

lated at the mean exchange rate on the balance

sheet date, and income statement items are

translated using the weighted average mean rate

for the year. Equity is translated at the historical

exchange rate of the date of first consolidation.

Goodwill from companies acquired by foreign

companies is recognised in euros from the date

of initial inclusion in consolidation. The resulting

foreign exchange gains and losses are recognised

directly under equity.

2.3. changes in the scope of consolidation

During the financial year 2009, the following companies were initially consolidated on the date stated:

Waagner Biro Spólka z o.o., PL January 1, 2009 100.0 %

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2.5. accounting and valuation methods

2.5.1. Goodwill and negative goodwill resulting from business amalgamationsusing iFrS 3, the goodwill resulting from consoli-

dation and other forms of business amalgamations

reported in the balance sheet is not depreciated.

As required by iAS 36, an impairment test is car-

ried out and if there is evidence that the value of

goodwill has been impaired, unscheduled depre-

ciation results (cf. note 2.5.5.).

Negative goodwill resulting from consolidation

and other forms of business amalgamations has

been offset against revenue reserves without af-

fecting income or expense. in the course of the

initial consolidation of WBB Stahl- und Maschinen-

bau AG i.A., negative goodwill to the amount of

TEur 1,049 was recognised as a provision for ex-

pected future losses under other provisions. As at

December 31, 2009 an amount of TEur 86 (2008:

TEur 191) was reported in the balance sheet.

2.5.2. intangible and tangible assetsintangible assets acquired for consideration are

recognised in the balance sheet at acquisition

cost less scheduled and unscheduled deprecia-

tion.

in the case of internally generated intangible as-

sets, the period of generation is divided into a re-

search phase and a development phase. Costs

arising during the research phase are immediately

recognised as an expense. Expenditure in the de-

velopment phase is capitalised as intangible as-

sets if certain conditions confirming the future

usefulness of the expenses incurred are satisfied,

in particular the technical feasibility of the product

or process. internally generated intangible assets

are valued at the cost of production less sched-

uled and unscheduled depreciation. The effect on

income and expense of capitalising development

costs in the 2009 financial year was TEur 393

(2008: TEur 50).

Tangible assets are recognised at the cost of ac-

quisition or construction less scheduled and un-

scheduled depreciation.

The production costs of self-generated intangible

assets and property, plant and equipment consist

of direct costs and an appropriate proportion of

production overheads. Costs incurred subse-

quently or an asset are only capitalised if they are

expected to lead to a material increase in the fu-

ture usefulness of the asset, e.g. wider possible

uses or a significant extension of useful life.

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Assets acquired during the financial year and used

for more than six months are depreciated at the

full rate, while those in use for less than that pe-

riod are depreciated at half the applicable rate.

Non-current assets with an individual acquisition

cost of less than Eur 400 (low-value assets) are

fully written off in the year of acquisition and

shown in the non-current assets movement

schedule as disposals.

2.5.3. assets rented or leasedin the case of non-current assets, which are rent-

ed or leased, and where all material risks and re-

wards incident on ownership are transferred to

the Waagner-Biro Group (finance leasing), the as-

sets are recognised as intangible or tangible as-

sets. The value recognised at the time the agree-

ment was concluded is the lower of the current

market value of the asset and the present value of

the minimum future lease payments. At the same

time, the present value of the minimum future

payments as specified in the agreement is recog-

nised in the balance sheet as a financial liability.

As at December 31, 2009 accounts payable from

leasing contracts classified as finance leasing

amounted to TEur 94 (2008: TEur 261).

2.5.4. Financial assetsFinancial assets are not held for trading. To the

extent that the Group actually intends and is able

to hold investments until final maturity, they are

treated as held-to-maturity securities and recogn-

ised at the cost of acquisition. Any difference be-

tween the acquisition cost and the amount repay-

able on redemption (premiums or discounts) is

spread over the life of the security using the ef-

fective interest rate method.

in accordance with iAS 39, available-for-sale secu-

rities are valued at depreciated acquisition cost

(cf. note 2.5.5.). in the financial year 2009, write-

ups of TEur 1 were made (2008: TEur 6).

other investments, for which market values can-

not be established without undue expense, are

recognised at acquisition cost.

useful life in years

from to

intangible assets

Capitalised development costs 5 7

industrial property rights 3 20

tangible assets

Land and buildings, including buildings on land owned by others

5 50

Technical plant and machinery 3 15

other equipment, fixtures and furnishings 3 15

intangible assets and property, plant and equip-

ment subject to wear and tear are depreciated

and amortised over their expected useful life on a

straight-line basis. in calculating the rates to be

applied, the expected useful lives are assumed to

be as follows:

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Where there is evidence of impairment, the value

recognised for financial assets is calculated as de-

scribed in note 2.5.5.

2.5.5. impairmentAll non-current assets are reviewed on the bal-

ance sheet date for evidence of impairment.

Where there is evidence of impairment, the

Waagner-Biro Group establishes the higher of the

asset’s value in use and its selling price. Should

this amount be lower than the carrying value of

the asset, unscheduled depreciation to the lower

value occurs.

The Waagner-Biro Group calculates the value in

use as the present value of the estimated future

net cash flows generated by use of the asset, us-

ing a market rate of interest before tax. Where no

net cash flows can be established for an individual

asset, the asset is treated as part of the next larg-

er unit to which it belongs and for which cash

flows can be determined (cash generating unit).

The selling price of the asset is the amount recov-

erable in an arm’s length transaction in an active

market, net of attributable disposal costs.

The calculated unscheduled depreciation is recog-

nised as an expense. Where the impairment loss

is subsequently reversed, the amount is recogn-

ised as income up to a maximum of the original

cost of acquisition or construction net of deprecia-

tion or amortisation, except for goodwill. Pursuant

to iFrS 36, goodwill was subjected to an impair-

ment test, which in the 2009 financial year did not

result in an impairment (2008: TEur 0).

2.5.6. inventoriesinventories are recognised at the lower of cost of

acquisition or production, or net realisable value at

the balance sheet date.

Acquisition costs include all costs incurred in

bringing the asset to its required state and loca-

tion. Production costs include all direct costs and

an appropriate allocation of production overheads

based on normal levels of capacity utilisation. unit

costs are calculated largely using the moving

weighted average price method.

Net realisable value results from the expected

sales proceeds, net of estimates made on the ba-

sis of experience of the production, administra-

tion and distribution costs still to be incurred.

2.5.7. construction contractsincome from construction contracts is recognised

on the basis of the percentage of completion,

which is calculated using the cost-to-cost method.

The costs and profits thus recognised amounted

to TEur 63,097 (2008: TEur 64,616). The pay-

ments received on account of projects pending as

at the balance sheet date amounted to TEur

52,332 (2008: TEur 51,857). Agreed contractual

retentions are usually replaced by bank guaran-

tees.

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pin addition, contribution-related pension commit-

ments exist in relation to certain employees. The

related costs were recognised as an expense at

the time of incurrence. During the 2009 financial

year, the regular contributions to national and in-

ternational employee pension funds amounted to

TEur 434 (2008: TEur 469).

provisions for severance paymentsunder Austrian labour law Waagner-Biro is obliged

to pay staff who entered employment prior to

January 1, 2003 defined severance benefits on

severance or retirement. Staff who resign of their

own accord, or who are dismissed for good cause,

are not entitled to severance benefits. The amount

of the severance payment depends on the num-

ber of years of service and the level of relevant

remuneration at the time of severance, and

The valuations as at December 31, 2009 and 2008 are based on the following assumptions:

2009 2008

interest rate 6.00 % 6.00 %

Pension increase 1.45 % 3.8 %

Life expectancy AVÖ 2008-P AVÖ 2008-P

2.5.8. trade receivables, other receivables and other assetsTrade and other receivables are reported at their

nominal values. recognisable risks are accounted

for by individual provisions. A provision was

formed for country risks. other assets are valued

at acquisition cost less unscheduled depreciation

(cf. note 2.5.5.).

2.5.9. cash and cash equivalentsCash and cash equivalents consist of cash and

bank credit balances.

2.5.10. obligations to employees

pension obligationsThe Waagner-Biro Group has obligations under

three individual agreements to pay pensions on

retirement. These defined benefit obligations are

not matched by specifically earmarked funds, and

are therefore provided for in full in the financial

statements. The pensions relate exclusively to

employees who have already taken retirement, or

their widows.

The provisions required on the balance sheet date

are calculated in an actuary’s valuation.

Any differences between the amounts of provi-

sions thus calculated in advance and the amounts

actually payable (actuarial gains/losses) are recog-

nised fully as income or expense.

96 ⁄

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amounts to between two and twelve months’ re-

muneration. These obligations are the subject of a

provision.

This provision is calculated using the projected

unit credit method. An actuarial model is utilised

to calculate the present value of future payments

accruing over the staff’s estimated years of em-

ployment. The provision is the subject of an actu-

arial valuation as at balance sheet date.

For contracts of employment beginning after De-

cember 31, 2002, new regulations for severance

benefits apply. under the new system, for every

qualifying month of employment and also for cer-

tain other qualifying periods, the employee ac-

quires a vested right to a payment on severance

irrespective of the length of service and the man-

ner in which employment is terminated. This is a

contribution-based scheme, in which assets are

transferred to an employee severance payment

and pension fund to cover the obligation. The reg-

ular contributions to the employee severance pay-

ment and pension fund in 2009 amounted to

TEur 126 (2008: TEur 118) and are shown as

expense for severance payments.

other long-term obligations to employeesunder collective agreements, the Waagner-Biro

Group has obligations to pay long-service bonuses

to employees, who attain a certain number of

years of service (from 25 years upwards). These

obligations are the subject of a provision. This pro-

vision is calculated in principle using the same

methods and the same assumptions as for sever-

ance payment obligations. in contrast to sever-

ance payments the allowance for staff turnover is

taken to be 25%.

2.5.11. other provisionsother provisions are made where the undertaking

has legal or actual obligations to a third party as

the result of a past event and it is probable that

the obligations will result in an outflow of funds.

The provisions are based on the best estimates of

the amounts required available on the balance

sheet date. Where no reasonable estimate is pos-

sible, no provision is made. if the present value of

a provision based on a market rate of interest is

materially different from the nominal value, the

present value is reported.

The valuations as at December 31, 2009 and 2008 are based on the following assumptions:

2009 2008

interest rate 5.25 % 5.75 %

Salary increase 3.0 % 3.5 %

retirement age for women 601) 601)

retirement age for men 651) 651)

Life expectancy AVÖ 2008-P AVÖ 2008-P

1) Taking into account the interim provisions of the 2003 pension reform

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2.5.12. taxesThe income tax expense disclosed for the finan-

cial year is made up of the income tax on the tax-

able income of the individual companies (current

taxes), calculated using the tax rates applicable in

the relevant countries, and the changes in de-

ferred tax balances.

Deferred taxes are calculated using the balance

sheet liability method for all temporary differenc-

es between the carrying amounts of assets and

liabilities in the consolidated iFrS balance sheet

and their tax bases in the accounts and records of

the individual companies. The probable tax bene-

fits from unused tax loss carryforwards are also

taken into account. The exceptions to this com-

prehensive inclusion of deferred taxes are differ-

ences arising from goodwill for which amortisa-

tion is not deductible for tax purposes. Deferred

tax assets are not recognised if it is not consid-

ered probable that the associated tax benefits will

be recoverable. For the purpose of deferred taxes,

the tax rate in Austria has been taken to be 25%

(2008: 25%).

2.5.13. Financial liabilitiesFinancial liabilities are recognised at the value of

the amounts actually received. Premiums, dis-

counts and other differences between the

amounts received and the amounts repayable are

apportioned over the life of the financing using

the effective interest rate method and reported as

part of the financial result.

2.5.14. trade liabilities and other liabilitiesTrade liabilities and other liabilities are recognised

in the amounts repayable.

2.5.15. revenue recognitionincome from goods and services supplied is rec-

ognised when all the material risks and rewards

associated with the item supplied have passed to

the purchaser (completed contract method). in-

come from services not associated with a major

project is recognised to the same amount as the

services rendered up to balance sheet date. For

revenue recognition in connection with construc-

tion contracts, see note 2.5.7.

2.5.16. Financing costs and income from financial investmentsFinancing costs include the interest expense on

borrowings and finance leasing and interest-relat-

ed expenses, as well as losses from the disposal

or unscheduled depreciation of financial assets.

income from financial investments includes rea-

lised interest, dividends and similar income from

investments in cash and cash equivalents and in-

come from the retirement and write-up of finan-

cial assets.

interest is apportioned on an accruals basis, using

the effective interest rate method. Dividends are

recognised when the resolution authorising divi-

dend distribution is passed.

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3. notes to tHe balance sHeet and incoMe stateMent

(1) intangible assets and goodwill

Capitalised development

costs

industrial property

rights

Goodwill Total

teur teur teur teur

acquisition costs

As at December 31, 2008 3,336 10,581 29,432 43,349

Transfers –26 68 0 42

Additions 198 508 6,723 7,429

Disposals –122 –14 0 –136

Exchange rate differences 0 0 34 34

as at december 31, 2009 3,386 11,143 36,189 50,718

accumulated depreciation

As at December 31, 2008 1,799 5,119 6,144 13,062

Transfers –20 20 0 0

Additions 591 1,152 0 1,743

Disposals –122 –14 0 –136

Exchange rate differences 0 1 0 1

as at december 31, 2009 2,248 6,278 6,144 14,670

carrying value as at december 31, 2008

1,537 5,462 23,288 30,287


1,138 4,865 30,045 36,048

The addition to goodwill relates to the purchase of

25.15% of the stock of Waagner Biro Gulf L.L.C.,

which was owned equally by the Herbert Liaunig

Private Trust and the Albona Private Trust.

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(2) tangible assets

Land and buildings

Technical plant and

machinery

other equipment,

fixtures and

furnishings

Prepay-ments and

assets under

construc-tion

Total

teur teur teur teur teur

acquisition costs

As at December 31, 2008 3,047 10,744 3,653 152 17,596

Transfers 118 –151 151 –160 –42

Additions 13 1,835 444 157 2,449

Disposals 0 –2 –158 0 –160

Exchange rate differences 145 268 12 8 433

as at december 31, 2009 3,323 12,694 4,102 157 20,276

accumulated depreciation

As at December 31, 2008 1,141 7,509 2,415 0 11,065

Transfers 0 –109 109 0 0

Additions 172 834 545 0 1,551

Disposals 0 –2 –158 0 –160

Exchange rate differences 41 236 6 0 283

as at december 31, 2009 1,354 8,468 2,917 0 12,739


1,906 3,235 1,238 152 6,531


1,969 4,226 1,185 157 7,537

There are liens on items of the tangible asset

amounting to TEur 5,230 (2008: TEur 4,994).

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(3) Financial assets

Acquisition costs as at

Dec 31, 2009

recognised depreciation/

revaluation 2009

recognised depreciation/

evaluation not affecting

profit/loss 2009

Carrying value as at

Dec 31, 2009

Carrying value as at

Dec 31, 2008


interests in Group companies 221 0 0 221 203

Securities 1,252 1 0 853 851

other loans 679 0 0 679 872

total 2,152 1 0 1,753 1,926

Their stock market value as at the balance sheet date was as follows:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Fund shares 881 880

The interests in Group companies relate to shares

in subsidiaries, which due to immateriality are not

included in the consolidated financial statements.

The securities consist of fixed income securities.

They serve to cover the provisions for pensions

as required under Sections 14 and 116 of the Aus-

trian income Tax Act and for coverage of the

claims to severance payments at international

subsidiaries.

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(4) inventories

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

raw materials and consumables 3,760 3,691

Finished goods and products 3,450 3,478

total 7,210 7,169

The cost of materials reported in the income statement is structured as follows:

2009 2008

teur teur

Materials 73,029 47,820

Services 38,940 39,822

total 111,969 87,642

(5) receivables and other assets

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Trade receivables 67,522 62,356

receivables from Group companies 209 524

other receivables 4,153 11,229

total 71,884 74,109

Provisions for country risks amounting to TEur

2,000 (2008: TEur 0) were deducted from the

trade receivables. The general provision totalled

TEur 6 (2008: TEur 8).

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The trade receivables include the following:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Trade receivables 47,991 35,466

Services rendered, not yet chargeable 63,097 64,616

less: payments on accounts received –43,566 –37,726

total 67,522 62,356

The receivables from Group companies relate to the following:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Waagner-Biro Bin Butti Engineering L.L.C., uAE 104 447

Hunslet-Barclay Ltd., GB 81 77

Waagner Biro Spólka z o.o., PL 24 0

total 209 524

The other receivables include:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

DPWH consortium 1,082 64

Deferred expenditure 964 123

Sureties deposited 698 311

Credit balances with tax authorities 591 1,436

Claims 226 321

Loans 176 126

Contra accounts 143 690

Payroll accrual 106 92

Share disposals 0 7,000

other 167 1,066

total 4,153 11,229

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(6) cash and cash equivalents

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

bank balances 8,695 9,715

(7) prepayments and deferred taxes

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Deferred taxes 5,314 7,183

other 646 465

total 5,960 7,648

(8) equity

The reported share capital of Waagner-Biro Ak-

tiengesellschaft remained unchanged over the

previous year at TEur 7,000. This is made up of

2,860,000 no par value bearer shares.

Shareholders enjoy the usual rights and benefits

conferred under the Austrian Corporations Act,

including the right to payment of dividends, as de-

termined by the general shareholders’ meeting

on the basis of the parent company’s individual

financial statements prepared under Austrian

commercial law, and the right to vote at the share-

holders’ meeting.

The reserves comprise capital reserves and reve-

nue reserves, and include retained earnings and

the foreign currency translation reserve.

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(9) Minority interests

Minority interests include shares in the equity of

subsidiaries held by minority shareholders. in

2009, dividends of TEur 567 (2008: TEur 0)

were paid to minority shareholders. The following

companies have minority shareholders:

2009 2008

teur teur

Waagner-Biro Luxembourg Stage Systems S.A., L

49.0 % 49.0 %

Jenbacher Holdings (uK) plc., GB 3.0 % 3.0 %

Waagner Biro Gulf L.L.C., uAE 0.0 % 25.2 %

(10) obligations to employees (social capital)

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Provisions for severance payments 4,642 4,337

Provisions for pensions 1,169 1,197

Provisions for long-service bonuses 444 470

total 6,255 6,004

provisions for pensions

2009 2008

teur teur

Present value of pension obligations (DBo) as at January 1

1,197 2,042

Change –28 –111

Final consolidation 0 –734

present value of pension obligations (dbo) as at december 31

1,169 1,197

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provisions for severance payments

2009 2008

teur teur

Present value of severance payment obligations (DBo) as at January 1

4,337 6,901

Final consolidation 0 –2,957

Service cost 173 174

interest cost 189 165

Severance payments made –318 –295

Actuarial gains/losses –34 159

Change international companies 295 190

present value of severance payment obligations (dbo) as at december 31

4,642 4,337

provisions of long-service bonuses

2009 2008

teur teur

Present value of long-service bonus obligations (DBo) as at January 1

470 1,038

Final consolidation 0 –574

Service cost 34 32

interest cost 26 23

Severance payments made –66 –70

Actuarial gains/losses –20 21

present value of long-service bonus obligations (dbo) as at december 31

444 470

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(11) Financial liabilities

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

Non-current Current Total Non-current Current Total

teur teur teur teur teur teur

liabilities to banks

Current account overdrafts and cash advances

0 24,050 24,050 0 28,258 28,258

Financing loans 6,713 2,657 9,370 9,491 1,964 11,455

total 6,713 26,707 33,420 9,491 30,222 39,713

The fair values of the financial liabilities corre-

spond with the carrying values. The fair values are

calculated by discounting future payments to be

made subject to the assumption of the current

market interest rate. As at December 31, 2009

no loans were secured by mortgages (2008:

TEur 0).

(12) provisions

Current taxes

Personnel order processing

other Total


As at January 1, 2009 203 3,720 7,130 5,614 16,667

Final consolidation 0 0 0 –61 –61

Consumption 0 –566 –3,607 –1,890 –6,063

release 0 –10 –122 –131 –263

Additions 594 1,173 14,413 2,381 18,561

Exchange rate differences 0 –11 –51 60 –2

as at december 31, 2009 797 4,306 17,763 5,973 28,839

thereof non-current 0 444 3,939 2,791 7,174

thereof current 797 3,862 13,824 3,182 21,665

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(13) income taxes

income taxes are structured as follows:

2009 2008

teur teur

Taxes on income –1,395 –736

Change in deferred tax assets/liabilities –1,938 –3,881

total –3,333 –4,617

Temporary differences between the carrying val-

ues in the consolidated iFrS balance sheet and

the corresponding tax bases affect the deferred

tax items reported in the balance sheet as fol-

lows:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

deferred tax assets

Non-current assets 1,253 2,004

Current assets 6 4

Provisions for severance payments and pensions 166 166

other provisions 22 76

Liabilities 8 0

Loss carryforwards 13,267 14,032

14,722 16,282

Thereof unrecognised –6,742 –6,777

Netting of deferred tax assets and liabilities –2,666 –2,322

Deferred tax assets 5,314 7,183

deferred tax liabilities

Non-current assets 191 214

Current assets 1,956 2,109

other provisions 519 0

Liabilities 0 4

2,666 2,327

Netting of deferred tax assets and liabilities –2,666 –2,322

Deferred tax liabilities 0 5

deferred taxes (net) 5,314 7,178

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on the basis of current tax regulations, it may be

assumed that the differences between tax bases

and the proportionate shares of equity in consoli-

dated subsidiaries resulting from retained earn-

ings will largely remain untaxed. Therefore, no

provision for deferred taxes has been made.

Deferred taxes with respect to loss carryforwards

have been recognised as assets to the probable

extent to which they will be netted against future

taxable profits. under current legislation, the right

to offset tax loss carryforwards is not subject to

time limits.

The reasons for the difference between the an-

ticipated tax burden and the reported income tax

expense are as follows:

2009 2008

teur teur

Profit before tax (including result from discontinued business areas)

12,133 22,722

Notional tax expense 3,033 5,681

Tax expense as per income statement 3,333 4,617

difference to be reconciled 300 –1,064

causes of the difference

reduction in the tax burden due to:

Effect of differing tax rates 682 406

Tax-free financial income 11 14

Withholding taxes and tax credits from previous periods

0 34

Sundry allowances and other permanent differences

0 120

Arithmetical tax expenditure from the sale of Binder+Co

0 3,833

increase in the tax burden due to:

Change of deferred taxes into loss carryforwards

–370 –3,297

Non-deductible expenses –40 –19

Withholding taxes and tax back-payments from previous periods

–545 –8

Tax rate changes 0 –19

other –38 0

reconciled difference –300 1,064

⁄ 109

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Trade liabilities include TEur 1,715 (2008: TEur

1,195), which are classified as non-current.

(14) trade liabilities

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

creditors 22,705 26,157

(15) liabilities to Group companies

The liabilities to Group companies relate to the following:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Waagner-Biro Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Vienna 33 31

Waagner-Biro Stage Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., CHN 0 42

total 33 73

(16) other liabilities and accrued liabilities

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

Non-current Current Total Non-current Current Total

teur teur teur teur teur teur

other liabilities 466 3,668 4,134 689 5,983 6,672

Accrued liabilities 0 1,071 1,071 0 527 527

total 466 4,739 5,205 689 6,510 7,199

110 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

other liabilities include:

Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

Tax office 1,359 914

Health insurance funds 538 532

FFG loan 433 433

Payroll obligation 370 237

Trust 359 2,478

Contra accounts 334 437

outstanding accounts 248 334

Security for warranty claims 107 0

other 386 1,307

total 4,134 6,672

2009 2008

Stahlbau Stahlbau

Stage Systems Stage Systems

qualter, Hall & Co qualter, Hall & Co

WBB old WBB old

other other

(17) sales revenues and segment reporting

Segment reporting is by business segments (pri-

mary segmentation) and geographical segments

(secondary segmentation). Business segmenta-

tion corresponds to the Group’s internal reporting

structure. Assets and liabilities and income and

expenses are only allocated to specific segments

to the extent that they can be allocated directly, or

on some reasonable basis. items, which cannot

be allocated in this way, are shown under “oth-

er”. They consist predominantly of assets and

expenses of the Group’s management and admin-

istration. As a rule, clearing between segments

occurs on an arm’s length basis.

As compared to the past year, the main segmen-

tation has remained unchanged and includes the

following business areas:

⁄ 111

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segmentation by business area

Dec 31, 2009

Stahlbau Stage Systems

qualter, Hall & Co

WBB old other Elimina-tion

total

teur teur teur teur teur teur teur

External sales revenues 141,317 27,989 19,892 0 3,155 0 192,353

internal sales revenues 554 14 0 0 6,312 –6,877 3

Total 141,871 28,003 19,892 0 9,467 –6,877 192,356

segment operating result before non-recurring items

10,317 1,846 1,648 –214 –298 105 13,404

result from non- recurring items

0

Financial result –1,271

Taxes on income –3,333

net profit for the year 8,800

investments1) 8,612 222 262 0 782 0 9,878

investments in financial assets

5 1 0 0 0 0 6

total investments 8,617 223 262 0 782 0 9,884

Depreciation and amortisation1) 999 540 309 0 1,446 0 3,294

Write-downs on financial assets

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

total depreciation, amortisation and write-downs

999 540 309 0 1,446 0 3,294

1) Intangible assets and property, plant and equipment

Dec 31, 2009


qualter, Hall & Co


total


Segment assets 94,565 20,422 13,093 5,861 62,515 –57,369 139,087

Segment liabilities 67,208 11,424 5,227 4,200 32,111 –16,112 104,058

112 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Dec 31, 2008


qualter, Hall & Co


total


External sales revenues 102,275 32,448 13,837 0 2,974 0 151,534

internal sales revenues 1,815 2,372 0 0 3,722 –7,817 92

Total 104,090 34,820 13,837 0 6,696 –7,817 151,626

segment operating result before non-recurring items

5,022 1,525 1,325 –234 606 129 8,373

result from non- recurring items

0

Financial result –984

Taxes on income –4,617

Profit/loss from discontinued business areas 15,333

net profit for the year 18,105

investments1) 1,547 484 236 0 4 0 2,271

investments in financial assets

48 0 0 0 0 0 48

total investments 1,595 484 236 0 4 0 2,319

Depreciation and amortisation1) 1,002 549 343 0 675 0 2,569

Write-downs on financial assets

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

total depreciation, amortisation and write-downs

1,002 549 343 0 675 0 2,569

1) Intangible assets and property, plant and equipment

Dec 31, 2008


qualter, Hall & Co


total


Segment assets 91,660 22,551 12,014 6,305 62,854 –57,999 137,385

Segment liabilities 68,428 13,970 5,151 4,539 31,522 –16,634 106,976

⁄ 113

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Dec 31, 2009

Austria Eu rest of Europe

Asia Gulf region

other total


Sales revenues 9,291 49,994 5,927 16,094 101,556 9,494 192,356

Total assets 66,011 28,532 0 14,766 29,778 0 139,087

investments 1,006 298 0 697 7,883 0 9,884

Dec 31, 2008

Austria Eu rest of Europe

Asia Gulf region

other total


Sales revenues 13,373 51,591 5,187 26,762 47,687 7,026 151,626

Total assets 74,386 26,404 0 12,945 23,650 0 137,385

investments 550 610 0 229 930 0 2,319

segmentation by regionSegmentation by region takes place according to

sales revenues in line with the domicile of the

customers and in the case of assets and invest-

ments with the domicile of the subsidiary.

(18) other operating income

2009 2008

teur teur

income from the disposal and write-up of non-current assets

3 145

income from the release of provisions 263 1,153

other 1,914 1,695

total 2,180 2,993

114 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

other income includes:

2009 2008

teur teur

Foreign exchange gains 1,116 702

Non-repayable grants 340 185

Third party expensing 177 0

rental income 89 177

income from the release of provision for depreciation

66 345

other 126 286

total 1,914 1,695

(19) other operating expenses

other operating expenses include:

2009 2008

teur teur

Commission paid 5,767 4,114

rental and leasing expenses 3,800 2,738

Travel expenses and disbursements 3,274 2,986

Freight and transport costs 1,962 1,858

Legal and consulting fees 1,929 2,600

insurance 1,894 1,996

risk cover and provision for depreciation 1,353 1,084

Maintenance and repair costs 1,161 1,339

Services received 1,120 628

Commitment and guarantee fees 866 2,121

Advertising expenses 663 594

other 4,890 4,090

total 28,679 26,148

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The expenses incurred in the financial year for the auditors amounted to:

teur

Auditing fees for financial statements (individual and consolidated) 110

Fees for other services 12

total 122

(20) staff costs

2009 2008

teur teur

Salaries and wages 31,046 27,432

Statutory social security contributions 4,740 4,428

Expenses for severance payments 833 708

Expenses for pensions 626 701

other social benefits 277 242

total 37,522 33,511

Average employee numbers were as follows:

2009 2008

teur teur

Salaried staff 505 473

Non-salaried staff 461 415

Apprentices 2 2

total 968 890

116 ⁄

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(21) Financing costs

2009 2008

teur teur

interest and interest-related expenses 1,534 2,301

(22) income from financial investments

2009 2008

teur teur

interest and interest-related income 235 1,280

income from other securities and loans held as financial assets

27 31

other income from financial investments 1 6

total 263 1,317

(23) discontinued business areas

information concerning the income statementThe profit/loss from discontinued business areas refers to:

2009 2008

teur teur

binder+co 0 15,333

information concerning cash flowThe cash flow from discontinued business areas refers to:

2009 2008

teur teur

binder+co 0 20,854

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Dec 31, 2009 Dec 31, 2008

teur teur

liabilities 663 1,243

2010 2010–2014 As from2015

teur teur teur

rental agreements 3,218 13,017 10,910

Leasing agreements 366 830 76

total 3,584 13,847 10,986

4. otHer inForMation

4.1. other obligations and contingent liabilities

rental and lease agreementsThe Waagner-Biro Group has concluded rental

and operating lease agreements for plant and

business equipment with several contracting par-

ties. The agreements refer to properties, build-

ings, office space, fixtures and fittings. under ex-

isting agreements the minimum payments are as

follows:

pending litigationAt December 31, 2009 there was no litigation of

material significance to the financial statements.

contingent liabilitiesContingent liabilities, which for lack of certainty,

cannot be recognised in the balance sheet are as

follows:

Contingent liabilities consist exclusively of third

party obligations.

118 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

4.2. related party disclosures

The governing bodies of the Waagner-Biro Group

are as follows:

Management board of Waagner-biro aktiengesellschaft, Vienna• GerhardKlambauer

• Wolfgang Gauster

(until April 28, 2009)

supervisory board of Waagner-biro aktiengesellschaft, Vienna• HerbertW.Liaunig

Chairman

• HellmutLongin

First Vice-Chairman

•GerhardHeldmann

Second Vice-Chairman

• KurtBerger

• WolfgangGauster

(since April 28, 2009)

• GüntherMörtl

Employee representatives:

• HerbertDonnersbichler

• StanislausSchmid

• FranzToth

Current annual remuneration to the members of

the Management Board in 2009 amounted to

TEur 376 (2008: TEur 506).

in the year under review, the Supervisory Board

received emoluments of TEur 60 (2008:

TEur 11).

on December 11, 2008, the Waagner-Biro

Supervisory Board passed a resolution, which

prolonged the services and personnel leasing

agreement with Gauster Consult GmbH beyond

the termination on December 31, 2009 of the

Management Board function of Wolfgang

Gauster. Current expenses in 2009 amounted to

TEur 125.

With effect from February 16, 2009, the share-

holdings in Waagner Biro Gulf L.L.C., held equal-

ly by the Herbert Liaunig Private Trust and the

Albona Private Trust totalling 25.15%, were re-

purchased by Waagner-Biro Stahlbau AG. The

purchase price amounted to TEur 7,000.

in order to secure the long-term loyalty of the

management of the Group company in indone-

sia, an options agreement was concluded, which

subject to a number of conditions provides a

vested right to purchase 49% of the stocks in

this company. The option can be exercised in

2010.

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4.3. earnings per share

The undiluted earnings per share are calculated

by dividing the consolidated profit by the weight-

ed average number of ordinary shares in issue

during the year.

The diluted earnings per share are identical with

the undiluted earnings, as no financial instruments

with a dilutive effect have been issued.

2009 2008

Consolidated profit in TEur 8,572 17,534

Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 2,860,000 2,860,000

earnings per share in eur 3.00 6.13

earnings per share on the basis of continued business areas

2009 2008

Consolidated profit in TEur 8,572 2,201


earnings per share in eur 3.00 0.77

earnings per share on the basis of discontinued business areas

2009 2008

Consolidated profit in TEur 0 15,333


earnings per share in eur 0 5.36

120 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Between the closing date of the annual financial

statements and their release by the Waagner-Biro

Aktiengesellschaft Management Board on March

11, 2009, no events occurred with a material ef-

fect upon the financial statements as at Decem-

ber 31, 2009.

The Management Board

Gerhard Klambauer m.p.

Vienna, March 19, 2010

report on the Group management reportWe have audited the attached consolidated finan-

cial statements of Waagner-Biro Aktiengesell-

schaft, Wien, and its subsidiaries (hereinafter re-

ferred to as the “Waagner-Biro Aktiengesellschaft

Group“) for the financial year from January 1 until

December 31, 2009 with equity of Eur

35,029,000. These consolidated financial state-

ments incorporate the consolidated balance sheet

as at December 31, 2009, the consolidated in-

come statement, the consolidated cash flow

statement, the consolidated statement of chang-

es in equity for the financial year ended Decem-

ber 31, 2009, and other explanatory notes.

legal representatives’ responsibility for the annual consolidated financial statementsThe legal representatives of the company are re-

sponsible for the preparation of annual consoli-

dated financial statements that present a true and

fair view of the assets, finances and earnings situ-

ation of the Group in accordance with the interna-

tional Financial reporting Standards (iFrS), as ap-

plicable in the Eu. This responsibility includes the

design, implementation and maintenance of an

internal control system appropriate to the prepa-

ration of annual consolidated financial statements

that present a true and fair view of the assets,

finances and earnings situation of the Group, and

are free of material misstatements irrespective of

whether these are the result of intentional or un-

intentional errors, as well as the selection and ap-

plication of appropriate accounting and valuation

methods and the making of estimates, which ap-

pear reasonable under the given circumstances.

auditors’ responsibility and description of the type and scope of the statutory auditour responsibility is to express an opinion con-

cerning these consolidated financial statements

on the basis of our audit. We conducted our audit

in accordance with the current, related statutes

and regulations in Austria. These standards re-

quire that we comply with the rules of profes-

sional conduct and that we plan and perform the

5. eVents aFter tHe balance sHeet date

auditors’ report

⁄ 121

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audit in a manner that allows us to state with suf-

ficient certainty that the consolidated financial

statements are free of material misstatements.

An audit involves the performance of auditing pro-

cedures in order to obtain evidence supporting

the amounts and other disclosures in the consoli-

dated financial statements. The choice of auditing

procedures lies within the realms of the profes-

sional judgement of the auditors, taking into ac-

count their assessment of the risk of material

misstatements, irrespective of whether these are

the result of intentional or unintentional errors. in

making these risk assessments, the auditors take

the internal control system into account to the ex-

tent that it affects the preparation of annual con-

solidated financial statements, that present a true

and fair view of the assets, finances and earnings

situation of the Group, in order to apply audit pro-

cedures appropriate to the circumstances, but not

for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the

effectiveness of the Group’s internal controls. The

audit also includes an appraisal of the appropriate-

ness of the accounting and valuation methods

employed and the material estimates made by

the management, as well as an assessment of

the overall presentation of the consolidated finan-

cial statements. We believe that we have ob-

tained sufficient evidence of pertinence for a reli-

able basis for our audit opinion.

audit opinionour audit has led to no objections. Based on the

knowledge gained in the course of the audit, the

balance sheet, income statement, cash flow

statement and the equity schedule are, in our

opinion, in compliance with statutory provisions

and present a true and fair view of the assets and

finances situation of the Waagner-Biro Aktienge-

sellschaft Group as at December 31, 2009 and of

the earnings situation and cash flows of the

Waagner-Biro Aktiengesellschaft Group with

equity of Eur 35,029,000 for the financial year

from January 1 until December 31, 2009 in com-

pliance with the international Financial reporting

Standards (iFrS) published by the international

Accounting Standards Board and adopted by the

European union.

comments on the Group management reportAustrian statutes and regulations require us to

audit the Group management report, in order to

determine if it is consistent with the annual con-

solidated financial statements and whether the

other information that it contains does not give a

misleading impression regarding the state of the

Group’s affairs. in our opinion, the consolidated

management report is consistent with the annual

consolidated financial statements.

SoT Wirtschaftsprüfung GmbH

Mag. Friedrich Spritzey m.p.

Mag. Markus Brünner m.p.

(Auditors)

Graz, March 19, 2010

The publication or dissemination of the consolidated financial statements bearing our opinion may only take place in the ap-proved version. This opinion relates exclusively to the German language version of the complete consolidated financial state-ments including the Group management report. For any other versions, the regulations contained in Section 281 para 2 uGB (Austrian Commercial Code) are to be observed.

122 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

Dear Shareholder,

during the 2009 financial year, the Supervisory

Board regularly monitored the work of the Man-

agement Board and provided consultative sup-

port. The basis for these activities was provided

by the detailed written and verbal reports of the

Management Board. in addition, both the Supervi-

sory Board chairman and his deputies undertook

frequent exchanges of information and views

with the Management Board. The Supervisory

Board was constantly informed about

• businesspolicy,

• company planning, including financial, invest-

ment and personnel aspects,

• companyprofitabilityand,

• theoverallbusinesssituation.

if approval was required for executive manage-

ment decisions or measures, the members of the

Supervisory Board first examined the proposal

documentation provided and then came to a deci-

sion at their meetings. The Supervisory Board

was involved in all decisions of major significance

to the company.

superVisorY board report

⁄ 123

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The economic situation and the development per-

spectives for the company, described in the re-

ports of the management, were the object of in-

depth discussion.

During 2009, the Supervisory Board held five

meetings. At each of four meetings of the Super-

visory Board, one member was absent.

annual financial statements, audit

The annual financial statements were prepared in

accordance with the Austrian Commercial Code

(uGB) and the consolidated financial statements

were prepared in accordance with the interna-

tional Financial reporting Standards (iFrS). Both

statements were audited by SoT Wirtschafts-

prüfung GmbH, Graz, who gave them unqualified

approval.

in their opinion, the auditors explained their audit-

ing principles. The annual financial statements,

consolidated financial statements, the manage-

ment report and the report of the auditors were

presented to all the members of the Supervisory

Board. The Supervisory Board discussed the doc-

umentation relating to the financial statements in

detail, both in the presence of the auditors and

following their report.

The Supervisory Board consented to the financial

statements prepared by the Management Board

and therefore pursuant to Section 125 para 2 of

the Austrian Stock Companies Act, these are tak-

en as approved. The Supervisory Board also en-

dorses the management report, especially the

assessment of further company development.

Such endorsement also applies to dividend pol-

icy and the Supervisory Board concurs with the

Management Board’s proposal for the appropria-

tion of profits, which envisages a dividend of Eur

1.40 per share.

in accordance with Section 270 para 1 of the Aus-

trian Commercial Code, the Supervisory Board

proposes SoT Wirtschaftsprüfung GmbH, Graz,

as the auditors for the 2010 financial year (indi-

vidual financial statements and consolidated

financial statements).

The Supervisory Board wishes to express its

thanks to the company management and the en-

tire workforce for their commitment during the

2009 financial year.

For the Supervisory Board

Herbert W. Liaunig

(Chairman)

Vienna, March 2010

124 ⁄

⁄ Issue 2009 ⁄

locationsWaagner-biro aG Leonard-Bernstein-Strasse 10

1220 Vienna, Austria

T: +43/1/288 44 0

F: +43/1/288 44 333

E: [email protected]

www.waagner-biro.at

Waagner-biro stahlbau aGLeonard-Bernstein-Strasse 10


T: +43/1/288 44 0

F: +43/1/288 44 333


[email protected]

www.waagner-biro.at

Waagner-biro austria stage systems aGLeonard-Bernstein-Strasse 10


T: +43/1/288 44 0

F: +43/1/288 44 7811


www.waagner-biro.at

Qualter, Hall & co ltd.8, Johnson Street

Barnsley S75 2BY, united Kingdom

T: +44/1226/205 761

F: +44/1226/244 031


www.qualterhall.co.uk

This Annual Report has been prepared with the greatest possible care and every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data that it contains. Nevertheless, rounding, typographical and printing errors cannot be excluded. The use of automatic calculating devices can result in rounding-related differences during the addition of rounded amounts and percentages.

This Annual Report contains assessments and assertions relating to the future made on the basis of all the informa-tion currently available. Such future-related statements are usually introduced with terms such as “expect”, “estimate”, “plan”, “anticipate”, etc. We would draw your attention to the fact that various factors could cause ac-tual conditions and results to deviate from the expectations outlined in this report.

Statements referring to people are valid for both men and women.

This Annual Report is published in German and English. In cases of doubt, the German version shall take prece-dence.

Editorial closing date: April 1, 2010

visions realised

Waagner-Biro AG

Leonard-Bernstein-Strasse 10, 1220 Vienna, Austria

T: +43/1/288 44 0, F: +43/1/288 44 333

[email protected], www.waagner-biro.at

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09 annual report

annual report 2009

Documents

order intakein eur million2006

ebitdain eur million2006

equity ratio

noncurrent assets4

ratio of equity capital

assetstotal assets

ordinary activities2

key figuresemployees