Financial Overview

(in million euro)

	FY2010	FY2009	Rate of change(%)	Factors
Sales	3,262	2,437	33.9	1)
EBIT	534	232	130.1

Factor
1)
-In 2010 the world sighed with relief as economies worldwide showed signs of strong recovery from the global financial crisis that dominated the two previous years. Business in the emerging markets had already picked up in the second half of 2009. In the second quarter of 2010 the mature markets followed suit. Overall, the Company achieved a strong performance in 2010. Having succeeded in securing their position in the challenging year 2009 thanks to swift cost-control measures and proactive production alignment, the Company was able to respond fast to the opportunities created in 2010 as demand picked up again. As a result, all of our plants recorded excellent capacity utilization.

 

Acquisition
-In Sept. 2010, Signed an agreement for the acquisition of 75% of the shares of the spring wire and overhead conductor business of Xinyu Iron & Steel Co., Ltd in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, China. The transaction, with a purchase value of 161.2 million RMB is expected to close by year-end 2010. The acquired activities encompass two spring wire production plants, and a new manufacturing site will be built in Xinyu. Xinyu Steel will retain the remaining 25% and the entity will be renamed Bekaert (Xinyu) Metal Products Company Ltd. (From a press release on September 21, 2010)

R&D Expenditure

(in million euro)

	FY2010	FY2009	FY2008
Total	79	63	69

R&D Structure

-The Company employs over 700 dedicated staff in technology and innovation. At our Technology Center in Deerlijk (Belgium) more than 350 employees, representing 12 different nationalities, work in R&D. In excess of 350 people make up the R&D teams in the Bekaert Asia Research and Development Center in Jiangyin (China). With the new Technical Center in Pune (India), its technology activities in India will also be playing an increasingly important role.

-As for the protection of the Company's intellectual property, in 2010 we filed 41 patents.

-The Company opened its Asia Research and Development Center in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, China. The facility is the second R&D Center of Bekaert in the world, next to the Technology Center in Belgium. (From a press release on April 20, 2010)

-In Mar. 2010, the Company opened its technical center, located in Ranjangaon near Pune in India. The company operates three local plants in Pune, Ranjangaon and Lonand, where steel cord for tire reinforcement and steel wire products are produced for the Indian automotive market. (From a press release on Mar. 24, 2010)

Capital Expenditure

(in million euro)

	FY2010	FY2009	FY2008
Overall	230	158	239

Investments Outside Belgium

-In Oct. 2010, the Company has expanded its steel cord plant in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China. This expansion project adds another 25,000 tons of tire cord capacity, bringing the total annual tire cord capacity of Bekaert in China to 450,000 tons by the end of 2010. (From a press release on October 8, 2010)