Financial Overview

(in million EUR)

	FY ended Dec. 31, 2012	FY ended Dec. 31, 2011	Rate of change (%)	Factors
Net Sales	3,460.6	3,340.0	3.6	1)
EBITDA	274.8	496.6	(44.7)	-

Factor
1) Net Sales
-The Company's consolidated sales increased by 3.6% compared to 2011. Both the net impact of acquisitions and disposals (integration of the Inchalam group, Qingdao and Southern Wire, partly offset by divestments of the Specialty Films and Industrial Coatings activities) and  currency movements (mainly due to a stronger USD and CNY) contributed to the sales growth.

Joint Venture

-In August 2012, the Company announced the closing of the transaction to establish a joint venture, Bekaert Southern Wire Pte Ltd, 55% owned by Bekaert and 45% by Southern Steel Berhad (SSB), a Malaysian Steel Group. As communicated on 9 May 2012, the joint venture deal consists of SSB contributing its interests in the Malaysian wire activities based in Shah Alam and Ipoh, and Bekaert bringing in the galvanized wire platform located in Karawang, Indonesia. The joint venture with registered office in Singapore will serve customers in the Southeast Asian growth markets. The transaction has an enterprise value of approximately EUR 47 million. (From a press release on August 30, 2012)

R&D Expenditure

(in million EUR)

	FY ended Dec. 31, 2012	FY ended Dec. 31, 2011
Total	69.4	90.1

-The Company's investments in research and development totaled EUR 69.4 million in 2012. These expenses related mainly to the activities of the international technology centers in Deerlijk, Belgium and Jiangyin, China. The 23.3% decrease versus 2011 is a result of the global measures to adapt the business footprint in sawing wire, by which the Company adjusted its resources and development priorities in the respective technologies.

R&D Structure

-As of Dec. 31, 2012, the Company has 400 employees working in R&D on various projects worldwide.

-The Company's global technology platform consists of 2 main Technology Centers in Deerlijk (Belgium) and Jiangyin (Jiansu province, China).

Capital Expenditure

(in million EUR)

	FY ended Dec. 31, 2012	FY ended Dec. 31, 2011
Overall	127.3	277.7

Investments Outside Belgium

<China>
-In 2012, the Company and Xinsteel broke ground for a new production plant in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, China. The new plant, called Bekaert (Xinyu) New Materials Co., Ltd., will be located in Jiangxi Xinyu High-Tech Industrial Park Development Zone and will cover 75,000 square meters. It will house the spring wire manufacturing platform which is now located in two separate factories. The plant is expected to come into operation in the third quarter of 2013, and will serve domestic customers mainly. The Company formed a partnership with Xinyu Iron & Steel Co., Ltd (Xinsteel) in December 2011 through the set-up of a 50/50 joint venture. (From a press release on May 28, 2012)