Ad-hoc | 29 October 2007 07:57
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG / Preliminary Results/Forecast
Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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STRATEC publishes nine-month figures and 2007 forecast
- Earnings before taxes (EBT) rise by 41.7% in first nine months
- Nine-month sales at previous year’s level
- Forecast confirmed for earnings before taxes (EBT) of at least Euro 14
million in 2007
- Sales forecast for 2007 slightly reduced, sales expected at previous
year’s level
Birkenfeld, October 29, 2007
The Board of Management of STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG, which is listed
in the Prime Standard, hereby announces the preliminary unaudited
consolidated figures of the STRATEC Group for the first nine months of the
2007 financial year pursuant to IFRS (International Financial Reporting
Standards) and in accordance with Section 15 of the German Securities
Trading Act (WpHG).
Key Figures (EUR 000s) 01.01.- 09.30.2007 01.01.- 09.30.2006 Change
Gross performance 52,239 51,887 + 0.7%
Sales 50,526 51,933 - 2.7%
EBITDA 11,616 8,295 + 40.0%
EBIT 9,970 7,199 + 38.5%
EBT 10,058 7,097 + 41.7%
Consolidated net income 7,011 5,304 + 32.2%
Earnings per share (EUR) 0.62 0.48 + 29.2%
As presented at the Annual General Meeting in May 2007, as well as in
recent interim reports, the sales growth budgeted for the 2007 financial
year (transitional year) is partly affected by external factors. In
particular, these factors include the market approval of a new analyzer
system family by a customer and the market launch of an extension to a
reagents portfolio by a further STRATEC customer. Although the
aforementioned factors delaying the company’s growth have now largely been
addressed, they have impacted on the budgeted level of growth in the third
quarter and in the 2007 financial year. For the 2007 financial year, the
company now expects sales to approximately match the previous year’s level
(2006 sales: Euro 68.4m). Sales of at least Euro 75 million had been
forecast for the 2007 financial year on the basis of the forecasts provided
by STRATEC’s customers.
Enhanced efficiency means that the original earnings forecast of at least
Euro 14 million for the 2007 financial year can be confirmed.
This ad-hoc announcement (statutory company announcement) contains specific
forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts of
the STRATEC Group. Various risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and
other factors could lead to material variances between the forecasts
provided here and the actual earnings, financial position, development or
performance of the company.
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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:
The extensive interim report as of September 30, 2007 will be available for
downloading from our internet site from around 3 p.m. on November 15, 2007.
Notes on the key figures for the third quarter of 2007 and the forecast for
2007:
The delay in sales growth is due in part to the temporary postponement of
the marketing launch of a serial analyzer system newly developed for one of
our customers and already in production. Given that the regulatory steps
required prior to marketing have already largely been completed, the full
launch of marketing by our customer for this system is expected to take
place in the coming weeks. STRATEC started producing and supplying these
new serial analyzer systems to its customers at the beginning of the fourth
quarter of 2007.
STRATEC’s short-term growth has also been affected by the decision taken by
a further customer of the company to implement the envisaged market launch
of an extension to its reagents portfolio only in part. Due to internal
delays on the part of this customer, the market launch of the section now
remaining of this reagents portfolio is expected to take place in the
middle of the first quarter of 2008. There has been an analogous delay in
the substantial expansion we expected to see in the sales of serial
analyzer systems produced for this customer from the beginning of the
fourth quarter of 2007.
Overall, the sales volumes for STRATEC analyzer systems can be termed good.
The extraordinarily strong turnover seen in the third quarter of the
previous year nevertheless relativizes the current year’s achievements. The
substantial margin growth in the third quarter of 2007 is a reflection of
the fact that it had been necessary in the third quarter of 2006 to make
logistical compromises with a negative impact on the margin in order to
safeguard supply reliability. The margin has also been positively affected
by the settlement of deferred development services and the direct
settlement of development and advisory services.
Efficiency enhancements, the ongoing pleasing level of turnover with
consumables and expendable parts, as well as continued improvements in the
product portfolios in terms of margins, mean that the company is able to
confirm its original earnings forecast of at least Euro 14 million for the
2007 financial year.
Sales not affected by output volumes (atypically high share of sales not
incurring costs) have contributed around Euro 0.5 million to the net income
for the third quarter of 2007. This has positively influenced the margin.
As a result of the 2008 corporate taxation reform (adopted by the Federal
Council on July 6, 2007 following its approval by the German Federal
Parliament on May 25, 2007), deferred tax assets and liabilities have been
adjusted in accordance with IAS 34, Interim Financial Reporting. The
reduction in income tax rates has produced net income of Euro 76k.
Changes in the portfolio of analyzer systems sold and related changes in
the earnings contributed by individual STRATEC production sites in
different countries mean that the company expects its tax rate to increase
temporarily to around 30%.
The marked increase in the margin in particular shows that the factors
referred to above will not have any negative impact, but that the STRATEC
Group’s growth projects will merely witness externally induced, temporary
delays.
Notes on the 2008 forecast:
The delays at STRATEC’s customers referred to above mean that the
completion of the ramp-up phase of the products thereby affected will be
postponed into the 2008 financial year. With sales growth to between Euro
78 million and Euro 82 million in the 2008 financial year, the company
nevertheless expects to achieve earnings before taxes (EBT) in the
originally forecast range of Euro 16.2 million to Euro 18.2 million.
Sales growth continues to be highly dependent on serial analyzer systems
originally developed for Bayer Diagnostics and now marketed by Siemens
Medical Solutions Diagnostics. We have assessed the information at our
disposal and factored this conservatively into our budgets. This product
alone therefore harbors significant upside potential. However, the product
is also particularly subject to the risk of major volatility as a result of
the ongoing implications of the integration of Bayer Diagnostics into
Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics and the forthcoming integration of
Dade Behring.
For subsequent years from 2009, the company also expects to generate
average annual growth rates (CAGR) of more than 11% in the case of sales
and of more than 18% in terms of earnings before taxes (EBT), thus
achieving a level of growth more than double that expected for the overall
market.
The products currently in pre-development and development phases – amongst
others targeting 'molecular diagnostics', the fastest-growing market within
diagnostics – the partnerships established with our customers in this
respect and the overall youth of our product portfolio show that STRATEC’s
future growth can also be expected to benefit disproportionately from the
outsourcing requirements and growth of the overall market. By maintaining
its high level of investment in development work, STRATEC is securing its
growth, innovative leadership and competitive advantage.
About STRATEC
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG (http://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 and on other exchanges.
The STRATEC Group consists of the publicly listed parent company STRATEC
Biomedical Systems AG and its subsidiaries STRATEC Biomedical Inc., STRATEC
NewGen GmbH, Robion AG and Sanguin International Ltd., as well as Sanguin
International Inc., a subsidiary of Sanguin International Ltd.
Further information can be obtained from:
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
André Loy, Investor Relations
Gewerbestrasse 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Tel: +49 (0)7082 7916 190
Fax: +49 (0)7082 7916 999
E-mail: ir@stratec-biomedical.de
29.10.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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Language: English
Issuer: 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: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Stuttgart, München, Düsseldorf
End of News DGAP News-Service
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