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ER - STRATEC posts substantial sales and earnings growth in Q1/2010

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 News Details

Corporate | 28 April 2010 07:44

#   

STRATEC posts substantial sales and earnings growth in Q1/2010

**STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG / Quarter Results/Interim Report**

28.04.2010 07:44

Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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STRATEC posts substantial sales and earnings growth in Q1/2010

- EBIT margin boosted by more than 2% points to 18.5% (Q1/2009: 16.4%)
- EBIT of EUR 3.7 million (+36.7%; Q1/2009: EUR 2.7 million)
- Consolidated net income of EUR 2.9 million (+32.1%; Q1/2009: EUR 2.2
  million)
- Sales of EUR 20.2 million (+20.8%; Q1/2009: EUR 16.7 million)
- Expansion in development and production capacities

Birkenfeld, April 28, 2010

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG AG today released its figures for the period
January 1,  2010 to March 31, 2010 through the publication of its interim
report as of March 31, 2010.

Key Figures (EUR thousand)           01.01.-             01.01.-   Change
                                  03.31.2010          03.31.2009
Sales                                 20,225              16,743   + 20.8%
Overall performance                   23,229              19,068   + 21.8%
EBITDA                                 4,433               3,325   + 33.3%
EBIT                                   3,743               2,738   + 36.7%
Consolidated net income                2,873               2,175   + 32.1%
Earnings per share (EUR)                0.25                0.19   + 31.6%
EBIT margin (%)                         18.5                16.4

Financial performance - The positive performance of the company's operating
business is reflected in the sales and earnings figures for the first three
months of the current financial year, and was mainly driven by strong
demand for existing analyzer systems and consumables, such as maintenance
kits. Furthermore, a number of pre-serial systems on which serial
production has since begun were delivered in the past months.

Sales in the first three months of 2010 financial year (January 1, 2010 to
March 31, 2010) showed significant growth of 20.8% to EUR 20.2 million
(Q1/2009: EUR 16.7 million). They were accompanied by EBIT of EUR 3.7
million (Q1/2009: EUR 2.7 million), equivalent to a 36.7% increase. The
EBIT margin for the first quarter of 2010 developed on target, amounting to
18.5% (Q1/2009: 16.4%).


Project development - We made positive progress on our development
projects. For two of the newly designed analyzer systems underlying the
development projects, the ramp-up phase in preparation for serial
production was completed by the end of the first quarter of 2010. We have
now launched serial production on these systems and begun to deliver them
to our customers for initial stocking, indicating pending marketing launch.
Thereafter the respective customers will start marketing these analyzer
systems. For the two other analyzer systems, our customers expect serial
production to begin in the second half of 2010.

Concurrently we are significantly expanding both our production and
development capacities to enable us to handle ongoing strong turnover with
established analyzer systems as well as the increasing number of pre-serial
and serial systems to be manufactured. Our expansion plans will also
provide us with the capacity to handle development orders that are
currently in the negotiation stage.

Work began on the construction of a new building at our Birkenfeld location
in the first quarter of 2010. This building, which will have floor space of
5,000m² and in which the development departments at the Birkenfeld location
are to be grouped, is due to be completed in November 2010. It will soon be
possible to track construction progress via webcam at our homepage
www.stratec-biomedical.de. Work on the new building in Switzerland began in
2009 and our move into the new production building, which has a floor
surface of 4,000m², is scheduled for June 2010. Combined these measures
will virtually double our production capacities from the current level.

The construction project at the Birkenfeld location in is being financed
from operating cash flow, and the new production building in Switzerland
has been financed by taking up a loan on favorable interest terms.


Personnel development - Including temporary employees and employees at
Invitek, which was acquired in April 2009, the STRATEC Group had a total
workforce of 387 employees as of March 31, 2010 (March 31, 2009: 299).
Compared with the balance sheet date on December 31, 2009, the STRATEC
Group expanded its workforce by seven.


Outlook - Our business results for the first three months of the current
year confirm the increase in sales to between EUR 96 million and EUR 102
million announced by the company. Our forecast is supported by positive
expectations communicated by our customers concerning the turnover in their
system solutions. The substantial increase in demand for individual
analyzer systems from our customers has led to an unprecedented order
backlog at STRATEC at the end of the first quarter of 2010, one which we
intend to gradually work down over the coming quarters.

The EBIT margin developed on schedule in the first quarter and we remain
confident that we will reach the forecast target of at least 19.0% for the
2010 financial year. Four major development programs, benefits of scale in
production and the increasing share of sales generated with consumables and
spare parts should facilitate further growth in the EBIT margin.

The volume of production orders indicates further substantial growth in the
2010 financial year. Moreover, our planning indicators for the 2011
financial year suggest ongoing positive business performance, as a result
of which we continue to expect to be able to increase our sales by an
average of at least 15% a year in the years 2010 to 2012.

Furthermore, we are holding talks on promising projects with existing and
potential customers, which lead us to expect further growth driven by new
projects well beyond 2012.

Further details can be found in our interim report as of March 31, 2010,
which has been published at www.stratec-biomedical.de under Investor
Relations / IR News / Financial Reports.


About STRATEC

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG (www.stratec-biomedical.de) designs and
manufactures fully automated systems for its partners in the fields of
clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. These partners market such systems,
in general together with their own reagents, to laboratories, blood banks
and research institutes around the world. The company develops its products
on the basis of its own patented technologies. Shares in the company (ISIN:
DE0007289001) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange.

The STRATEC Group consists of the publicly listed parent company STRATEC
Biomedical Systems AG and of subsidiaries and second-tier subsidiaries in
Germany, the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Romania.


Further information can be obtained from:

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
André Loy, Investor Relations
Gewerbestr. 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Tel: +49 7082 7916 190
Fax: +49 7082 7916 999
E-mail: ir@stratec-biomedical.de


28.04.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de

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Language:     English
Company:      STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
              Gewerbestraße 37
              75217 Birkenfeld
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)7082 7916 0
Fax:          +49 (0)7082 7916 999
E-mail:       info@stratec-biomedical.de
Internet:     www.stratec-biomedical.de
ISIN:         DE0007289001
WKN:          728900
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
              in München, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
 
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
 
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