Meyer Burger Technology AG — Earnings Release 2008

May 15, 2008

News Details

Corporate | 15 May 2008 09:03

Roth & Rau AG reports successful start to new financial year

Roth & Rau AG / Quarter Results

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Roth & Rau reports successful start to new financial year
- First quarter sales rise by 78.9 % to EUR 43,952k
- Company presses ahead with internationalisation
- Orders on hand more than double to EUR 222,463k

Hohenstein-Ernstthal, 15 May 2008 – Roth & Rau AG has underlined its growth
course with its key figures for the first quarter of 2008. Sales rose by
78.9 % from EUR 24,458k in the first quarter of 2007 to EUR 43,952k in the
first quarter of 2008, thus reaching a new record level. The photovoltaics
business division accounted for 98.4 %, and thus for by far the greatest
share of sales. The company has benefited in this area from its market
position as one of the leading providers of antireflective coating plant
and turnkey production lines for the production of crystalline silicon
solar cells. The company’s growth in the first quarter was driven in
particular by the dynamic development of the Asian solar market. Merely
from its exports to Asia, Roth & Rau generated sales of EUR 27,108k. All in
all, international sales amounted to EUR 39,841k and thus accounted for
90.6 % of total sales (2007: 77.6 % or EUR 19,065k). Plasma and ion beam
technology, the company’s second business division, contributed sales of
EUR 694k in the first three months. This division succeeded in acquiring a
strategically important follow-up order to supply a production plant for
the manufacture of thin film solar cells (CIS solar cells on foil), which
will help to substantially improve the segment’s sales in the 2008
financial year compared with the previous year.

In view of the increasing significance of its international customer base,
Roth & Rau AG successfully pressed ahead in the first quarter with the
announced expansion of its international sales and service organisation.
Roth & Rau Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary based in San José, California,
was founded in March. 'In addition to the USA, we have also identified
further highly promising seminal markets, such as India and Southern
European countries, where we intend to boost our presence in future. We are
planning to open further representative offices in these countries and to
exploit the resultant geographical proximity to our customers to further
enhance our service and flexibility', commented Dr. Dietmar Roth, CEO of
Roth & Rau AG with regard to this strategic objective. Moreover, to
strengthen its market position in the Asian photovoltaics market, Roth &
Rau has also converted its longstanding representative office in Shanghai
into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Key earnings figures also improved significantly compared with the
equivalent period in the previous year. Earnings before interest and taxes
(EBIT) rose by 76.3 % from EUR 2,512k to EUR 4,428k. At 10.1 %, the EBIT
margin was at the same level as in the first quarter of the previous year
notwithstanding the significant sales growth and improved by 0.6 percentage
points on the 2007 financial year as a whole. 'We are very satisfied with
our earnings performance. The increase in our margins compared with the end
of the 2007 financial year shows that we are on the right track. In the
coming months we will be taking further measures to improve our cost
structures and thus to positively influence the development in our
margins', remarked Carsten Bovenschen, CFO of Roth & Rau AG. Consolidated
net income showed disproportionate growth of 124.1 % to EUR 4,021k (2007:
EUR 1,794k).

Prospects remain positive for the coming months. Orders worth EUR 65,832k
were received in the first quarter, more than double the equivalent figure
of EUR 32,233k for the first three months of 2007. Orders on hand amounting
to EUR 222,463k as of 31 March 2008 (2007: EUR 109,849k) indicate further
growth. 'We are standing by our forecast of generating sales of at least
EUR 235 million in the 2008 financial year, while at the same time
improving our EBIT margin', added Bovenschen.

Roth & Rau AG can rely on a comfortable liquidity reserve to finance its
further growth. The capital increase successfully executed in April 2008
provided the company with gross emission proceeds of EUR 101.2 million.
Moreover, the company also has a further EUR 160 million at its disposal in
the form of a working capital credit line of EUR 50 million and a guarantee
facility of EUR 110 million.

About Roth & Rau AG:
Roth & Rau AG based in Hohenstein-Ernstthal (ISIN DE000A0JCZ51) is a
supplier of plasma process systems for the photovoltaics industry. The
company is a leading supplier in terms of market share in this industry.
Furthermore Roth & Rau supplies components and process systems based on
plasma and ion beam technology for other sectors. Developed by Roth & Rau,
these products are manufactured and distributed worldwide through the
company’s photovoltaic and plasma and ion beam technology divisions. In
fiscal year 2007 Roth & Rau achieved an EBIT of Euro 14 million on sales of
Euro 146 million, employing an average of 190 people. Roth & Rau’s
photovoltaic division focuses on providing antireflective coating
facilities as well as fully automated manufacturing lines (turnkey
production lines) for the production of crystalline silicon solar cells.
Another focus is on the production of equipment for the coating of thin
film solar modules. The plasma and ion beam technology division, which
accounted for around 6 percent of total sales in the financial year 2006,
produces plasma sources and ion beam sources as well as process systems for
thin film and surface technology. Customers served by this division
include, in particular, companies in the semiconductor and automotive
industries, R&D departments in various industries including photovoltaics
as well as research institutes and universities.

Contact:
Haubrok Investor Relations GmbH
Simone Gorny
Kaistraße 16
40221 Düsseldorf
Tel.: +49 (0) 211/30126-130
Fax: +49 (0)211/30126-5130
E-Mail: s.gorny@haubrok.de

15.05.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: Roth & Rau AG
An der Baumschule 6-8
09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal
Deutschland
Phone: 03723 6685-0
Fax: 03723 6685-100
E-mail: info@roth-rau.de
Internet: www.roth-rau.de
ISIN: DE000A0JCZ51
WKN: A0JCZ5
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Stuttgart, München, Düsseldorf

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