Established in third quarter 2004, the Industrial Holdings
segment is currently made up of UBS’s majority stake in
Motor-Columbus, a financial holding company whose most
significant asset is a 59.3% interest in the Atel Group (Aare-
Tessin Ltd. for Electricity). Atel, based in Olten, Switzerland,
is a European energy provider focused on electricity trading
and marketing, domestic and international power generation,
electricity transmission and energy services. Motor-Columbus
also holds several other finance and property companies.
In first quarter 2005, our private equity investments,
currently part of the Investment Bank, will be reported in
industrial holdings. This matches our strategy of de-emphasizing
and reducing exposure to this asset class while capitalizing
on orderly exit opportunities when they arise. Current
management will continue to look after the portfolio.
Our consolidation of Motor-Columbus into our accounts at
the beginning of third quarter 2004 resulted in a revaluation
of its assets and liabilities. These are no longer comparable
with those previously published in Motor-Columbus’s separate
consolidated financial statements. The comparative
analysis provided here is based on unaudited proforma 2003
results.
For the six months ending 31 December 2004, our share
of Motor-Columbus’s net profit was CHF 45 million.
Total operating income for the six months ending 31 December
2004 was CHF 3,667 million, significantly higher than
in the same period a year earlier. The gain was due to the firsttime
availability of production capacity in Southern Europe.
Over the same period, total operating expenses, at CHF
3,460 million, rose at a slower pace than operating income
because costs for energy purchased from third parties fell
in the period as internal power production could be run at
near full capacity. Expense levels also benefited from lower
project costs.
