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Sept. 6, 2004 – Finance Digest

Ducati 1st half revenue up 5.6%
Italian motorcycle maker Ducati Motor Holdings SpA says motorcycle retail sales rose by 2% worldwide during the first half of 2004. U.S. sales were up 33%; France up 5%; and Italy up 2%. Sales in UK were down 4%; Germany was down 13%; the Benelux Countries down 50%; and Japan down 14%.
Ducati said first half 2004 consolidated revenue increased by 5.6% year-on-year to 221 million euro ($266 million). Representing 79.4% of all first half revenues, motorcycle sales during the period increased 0.9% to $175.4 million.
Revenues from motorcycle related products, including spare parts, technical accessories and apparel, were 42.3 million euro, up 21.3% from the comparable period in the previous year.
Ducati officals said production efficiencies brought company growth margin to 35.9% versus 34.3% last year. Earning before income tax (EBITDA) was 28 million euro or 12.7% of revenues — up 16.5% excluding foreign exchange (FOREX) effects, or up 8.5% including FOREX effects —versus 25.8 million euro or 12.3% of revenues in 2003.
Profit was 3.5 million euro versus a loss of 1.6 million euro in 2003, thanks to a 2.2 million euro increase in EBITDA and the 3.5 million euro one-off restructuring cost, which was accrued in 2003.
Net debt as of June 30, 2004, was 100.4 million euro, down from 112.2 million euro at the same date the year earlier. psb

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New VP at BMW Financial Services
BMW Financial Services has named Sanjay Chhabria as Vice President, Operations, succeeding Lindsay Duffield, who has accepted the position of President, BMW Group Canada. The executive-level promotions are effective as of September 1.
Chhabria joined BMW FS in 1997. He will continue to report to John Christman, Chief Executive Officer of BMW Financial Services NA, LLC. Duffield will be located in the BMW Group Canada HQ in Whitby, Ontario (Toronto) and report directly to Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW US Holding Corp.
BMW Financial Services NA, LLC was established in 1992 as a captive finance company to support the sales and marketing efforts of the BMW Group in North and Latin America. With more than $15 billion in managed assets and nearly 500,000 customers, BMW FS leases or finances more than half of the new BMW vehicles sold in the U.S. Most of 700 employees of BMW FS are based in the Dublin, Ohio Customer Service Center, where all credit underwriting, funding, customer service, title administration and collections are handled. A growing portfolio of banking, credit card and insurance offerings is also available through the BMW Bank of North America, based in Salt Lake City. psb

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Orbital posts a $3.4 million profits
Orbital Engine Corporation Limited, an international developer of engine and related technologies based in Australia, reported profit after taxation of A$3.4 million ($2.40 million) for its financial year ended June 30, 2004, an improvement of A5.3 million over the previous financial year.
“This result represents the third consecutive half year profit reported by Orbital, demonstrating the soundness of the changes put in place in the past few years,” said Orbital CEO Peter Cook. “We have improved our contribution from Engineering Services, contained costs and seen the results from the restructuring of Synerject that was put in place late last financial year.”
Orbital and Siemens Automotive established a 50:50 joint venture known as Synerject LLC to develop and supply fully integrated fuel systems incorporating Orbital technology. Based in Newport News, Va., Synerject supplies fuel pumps, electronic control units (ECU) and integrated fuel systems and can supply both direct injection and port injection fuel systems for 2-stroke and 4-stroke models.
In January 2003, Orbital Engine Corporation reached an agreement with Siemens to restructure and refinance the venture. The restructure included the transfer of Orbital’s marine and recreation systems sales business to Synerject with effective April 2003.
Synerject’s profit for the year increased by 100% to A2.7 million.
Cook said continuing weakness in the European 50cc motor scooter market affected the business unit, but its accounts were partly compensated by increased sales from the introduction of direct injection fuel systems to Mercury’s 3-cylinder Optimax range of engines.
Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, Orbital stock is traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (OEC)and the OTC Bulletin Board (OBTLY).

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Giant Motorsports’ First Half
Revenue is $33.9 million
Giant Motorsports, Inc. (GMOS), parent company of Ohio-based W.W. Cycles (dba Andrews Cycles) and Chicago Cycle, reported revenue of $33.9 million for the first six months of 2004, a 38.4% increase versus $24.5 million during the same period one year earlier. The company reported income from operations of $937,678 versus $351,750 for the comparable six months of 2003.
The significant increase in Giant Motorsports’ results follows the acquisition of Chicago Cycles on April 30, 2004.
“We believe the record second quarter results combined with the continuing integration of the Chicago acquisition demonstrates the effectiveness of our business model,” said Greg Haehn, president of Giant Motorsports.
W.W. Cycles reported revenues in excess of $46 million for its year ended December 31, 2003. Chicago Cycle’s unaudited sales were $38 million for the year ended December 31, 2003. More information is located at http://www.andrewscycles.com and http://www.chicagocycle.com .

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Big Dog forecasts record sales
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, Big Dog Motorcycles LLC says it expects to end the year with sales of approximately $119 million, a 47% increase compared to the record $81 million in sales posted last year.
Founded in 1994 by Sheldon Coleman, Big Dog spent the past year expanding its manufacturing facility by 20,000 sq. ft., leasing space in neighboring buildings for frame manufacturing and a polishing and powder coating operation, and developing marketing strategies such as a summer customer rally to spur brand loyalty. The company also increased employment by 117 employees between January 2003 and July 2004.
Servicing nearly 100 dealers, Big Dog produces a line of six V-Twin motorcycle models priced between $24,000 and $29,000. Now operating with 344 employees, the company’s three-year-old 141,500 sq. ft. production facility currently completes an average of 416 motorcycles a month.
In the first four months of 2004, Big Dog dealers took delivery of 1,600 bikes. In April alone, the company sold and shipped more than 500 bikes, which represented a 43% increase compared to the 351 units moved in April 2003.

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