Manz AG — Earnings Release 2009

Feb 19, 2010

News Details

Corporate | 19 February 2010 07:59

Manz Automation AG: Turnaround confirmed with additional new orders from Asia with a volume of more than EUR 25 million

Manz Automation AG / Miscellaneous

19.02.2010 07:59

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• Manz acquires LCD orders with a volume of EUR 13 million and solar
  equipment orders worth more than EUR 12 million thanks to its strong market
  position
• Technology leadership leads to additional orders for backend lines for
  crystalline solar cells and corresponding automation
• Order backlog at end of January 2010 lifts to EUR 70 million

Reutlingen, February 19, 2010 - Manz Automation AG, one of the world's
leading technology providers for the photovoltaic and LCD industries has
underscored the turnaround which started in the fourth quarter of 2009 with
additional new orders from Asia. In total, the Reutlingen-based high-tech
engineering company acquired new orders with a volume of more than EUR 25
million from customers in China and Taiwan. The order backlog thus
increased to EUR 70 million as of January 31, 2010.

The significant revival in demand for LCD TVs in China and the high-growth
segment for touchscreen displays (touchpanels) has led to a substantial
increase in capital expenditure by Asian manufacturers, from which Manz is
also benefiting. Existing customers ordered items including wet chemical
glass-cleaning equipment and automation systems with a volume of EUR 13
million. This proves yet again that the acquisition of Manz Intech was the
right strategic decision - as customer proximity and local machine
production as well as Manz Automation's local service network were once
again key factors in placing the order.

In addition, the intense research and development work in the last year has
also paid off. This has resulted in Manz Automation becoming the global
technology and cost leader for the production of highly efficient silicon
solar cells. This new concept includes high-performance laser equipment to
produce selective emitters and the newly developed high precision printers
to create front contacts. This technology, which can also be retrofitted in
existing production lines, allows the efficiency of solar cells to be
increased by up to 0.5 percentage points. 'As a result, manufacturers
reinforce their competitive position while keeping operating costs, the
so-called total costs of ownership, to a minimum. That's why our systems
enjoy great demand,' explained Dieter Manz, Manz Automation's CEO. He
added: 'At present, we are running customer tests practically non-stop in
our technology and training center in Reutlingen. A key factor is that we
not only promise high levels of efficiency, but that we also prove that we
can do it with real cells from our customers on genuine production systems.
And this has allowed us to successfully place additional end-to-end backend
lines with corresponding automation on the market in the shortest of
timeframes.' Manz has received new orders from the solar sector with a
total volume of more than EUR 12 million from existing customers in Taiwan
and China as well as two new customers, also from the Peoples' Republic.

Dieter Manz has a very positive opinion on further operating growth in the
solar sector: 'The planned reduction in feed-in fees in Germany means that
now more than ever manufacturers have to cut production costs still
further. And we supply the perfect solutions to do just that. Increasing
efficiency and production output and reducing breakage rates are the key
levers for our customers to be able to continue to operate successfully in
a highly competitive environment. That is why we believe that demand for
our innovative and highly efficient products will continue to increase.'

Company profile: Manz Automation AG

Reutlingen-based Manz Automation AG (ISIN: DE000A0JQ5U3) is one of the
world's leading technology providers for production systems in the
photovoltaic industry, the LDC industry and for Li-ion battery production.
The Manz Group's core competences are in robotics, image processing, laser
technology, quality assurance, metallization, wet chemicals as well as
control and drive technology. In-depth research and development activities
mean that Manz Automation now ranks among the world's technology leaders in
these segments. The Manz Group has sales and service branches in Germany,
Taiwan, the USA, China, South Korea, India and Spain. In addition, the Manz
Group has its own production facilities in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary,
Taiwan and China.

Investor relations contact:

cometis AG
Ulrich Wiehle / Dominic Großmann
Tel.: +49 (0)611 - 205855-15
Fax: +49 (0)611 - 205855-66
E-Mail: grossmann@cometis.de

19.02.2010 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: Manz Automation AG
Steigäckerstr. 5
72768 Reutlingen
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0) 7121 9000-0
Fax: +49 (0) 7121 9000-99
E-mail: info@manz-automation.com
Internet: http://www.manz-automation.com
ISIN: DE000A0JQ5U3
WKN: A0JQ5U
Indices: TecDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, München, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart

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