Meyer Burger Technology AG — Earnings Release 2006

Aug 15, 2006

News Details

Corporate | 15 August 2006 08:27

Roth & Rau AG continues successful business performance in the first half

Corporate news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Roth & Rau AG continues successful business performance in the first half – Order intakes at a high level in Q2 2006 – Production capacities to be expanded Hohenstein-Ernstthal, August 15, 2006 – Roth & Rau AG continued its successful business performance in the first half of 2006. In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the company generated sales of KEUR 15,609, compared to KEUR 12,029 in the same period of the previous year. In the second quarter, sales improved from KEUR 6,649 to KEUR 8,595. A substantial portion of the company’s total sales were again generated abroad, especially in Asia. “The good sales performance is mainly the result of our efforts to increase our presence in the Asian market. We have further expanded our local distribution capacity following the opening of a sales and service branch in Shanghai already in February of this year. In addition, the effective retention of our existing customers contributed to the strong increase in sales,” Dr. Dietmar Roth, CEO of Roth & Rau AG, commented on the sales performance. In percentage terms, sales improved by 29.8% in the first six months and by 29.3% in the second quarter. Adjusted for the effects of the adoption of the zero profit margin method, like-for-like sales were up by 17.0%. At 11.8%, the EBIT margin (in relation to total operating performance) of the first six months was at the same level as in the full previous year (11.9%) and in line with plan. A meaningful comparison with the first half of 2005, when the EBIT margin reached 14.8%, i.e. a much higher level than the full-year margin, is possible to a limited extent only. “Our business is characterised by the long order lead times that are so typical of our industry. As a result, orders on hand may peak at certain times of the year and return to a normal level in the further course of the year. The second quarter of 2005 was such a disproportionately strong quarter, which means that a comparison with Q2 2006 does not properly reflect the successful development of the company. We are very satisfied with our half-year result and continue to expect an EBIT margin of between 11% and 15% on sales of EUR 38 to 40 million,” said Dr. Roth. EBIT for the first six months totalled KEUR 2,025 (2005: KEUR 2,215). The order situation developed extremely positively in the second quarter of 2006. Incoming orders and orders on hand were clearly above plan as of June 30, 2006, amounting to KEUR 65,421 and KEUR 73,277 (2005: KEUR 23,749), respectively. This positive development is not least attributable to the large-scale EUR 53 million contract for the delivery of several turnkey facilities for the manufacture of solar cells. Order intakes continued to develop dynamically at the beginning of the third quarter. The Photovoltaics Division is seeing particularly strong demand for the successful anti-reflective coating facilities of the SiNA line. In July, the company received orders for the delivery of 14 SiNA L (30-35 MWp) facilities with a combined volume of KEUR 17,855. Construction of these facilities is scheduled to start at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with installation scheduled for the first and second quarter of 2007. “The existing large-scale contract for turnkey production facilities represents an excellent opportunity to position ourselves as a leading supplier of such full-service solutions in the market. We expect this reference project to lead to more such contracts before the end of the year,” said Dr. Roth. “This dynamic development will allow us to grow faster than originally planned. We will therefore greatly expand our production capacities in the coming months. We have already leased another production hall with an additional production space of 1,500 square metres in the direct vicinity of our headquarters,” said a satisfied Dr. Roth. The company’s human resources have been strengthened, too; Roth und Rau AG’s payroll comprised 119 full-time employees on August 1, 2006. About Roth & Rau AG: Roth & Rau AG, which has been listed in the Entry Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 11 May 2006 (ISIN DE000A0JCZ51), develops and manufactures equipment and process systems on the basis of plasma and ion beam technology and supplies these to a global customer base in a wide variety of sectors. Roth & Rau’s photovoltaic business field focuses on providing antireflective coating facilities for crystalline silicon solar cells. With a global market share of around one third, Roth & Rau is the global market leader in this area. The company’s second business field of plasma and ion beam technology, which accounted for around 30% of total sales in the past financial year, develops equipment for the semiconductor and automotive industries, as well as for research and development in various sectors. Roth & Rau AG witnessed a considerable acceleration of its growth in the 2005 financial year. The company generated sales pursuant to IFRS amounting to Euro 33.4 million, equivalent to growth of 251% on the previous year’s figure of Euro 9.5 million. Operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to Euro 4.3 million, compared with Euro 0.6 million in the previous year, which is equivalent to a sevenfold increase. Roth & Rau had an average of around 80 full-time employees in 2005. Contact: Roth & Rau AG Dr. Silvia Roth Tel.: 0049 (0) 3723/4988-13 Fax.: 0049 (0) 3723/4988-25 E-mail: investor@roth-rau.de Contact: Haubrok Investor Relations GmbH Simone Gorny Tel.: 0049 (0) 211/30126-130 Fax: 0049 (0) 211/30126-172 E-Mail: s.gorny@haubrok.de (c)DGAP 15.08.2006 ————————————————————————— Language: English Issuer: Roth & Rau AG Gewerbering 3 OT Wüstenbrand 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal Deutschland Phone: 0372349880 Fax: 03723 498825 E-mail: silvia.roth@roth-rau.de WWW: www.roth-rau.de ISIN: DE000A0JCZ51 WKN: A0JCZ5 Indices: Listed: Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart; Entry Standard in Frankfurt End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————