Ad-hoc | 23 October 2002 07:59

Evotec OAI AG english

Evotec OAI Announces Update on Annual Guidance Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– For the first 9 months Evotec OAI’s (WKN 566480) revenues reached EUR 47.4m (+20%). While this solid performance is in line with guidance of 20-30% growth, some customers are now delaying orders to conserve cash. We anticipate a period of lower market growth as a consequence of depressed capital markets and earnings pressures on customers. Our new order pipeline is strong. However, revenues for projects not started before November can, to a large extent, not be realised within this year. Delays of a few orders therefore led to the decision to adjust our targets. We now expect growth for the year to be in the range of 8-14%. We hold on to our belief that 20-30% growth p.a. is likely in the medium and long term. Significant additional orders in Discovery Services as well as Tools&Technologies are expected. Discovery Services (excl. Development Chemistry) continue to perform strongly (+24% in the first 9 months). Based on our Merck contract and our new business pipeline we see solid growth for 2003. Development Chemistry has experienced a down turn in new orders and a decline in visibility. This is primarily a consequence of biotech customers delaying projects to conserve cash. Even though this unit typically experiences significant short term spot orders, we now no longer expect it to grow this year. Some small delays in signing contracts in other areas of our business will lead to some revenue shifting into 2003. With secured revenues of over EUR 66m for 2002 and based on the status of contract negotiations we are confident to reach 2002 revenues of EUR 68-72m. We expect EBITDA break-even in 2003. EBITDA for 2002 is now expected to be at EUR -3 to -6m (2001: EUR -1.0m) due to a high level of R&D and under-utilisation of the Development Chemistry plants, an operation with a high portion of fixed cost. Our cash position was EUR 15m at the end of Q3. Based on a strong pipeline of new contracts and our decisions and measures to reduce cost and adapt capacity we remain confident to deliver on our business plan without a capital increase through the stock exchange. Based on today’s forecast we expect cash at year end to be in the range of our end of Q3 cash position. Contact: phone: +49/40/56081-286, investor.relations@evotecoai.com end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 23.10.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 566480; ISIN: DE0005664809; Index: NEMAX-50 Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 230759 Okt 02