Corporate | 8 February 2002 09:24

Asclepion-Meditec AG english

Asclepion optimises costs structure – Sale of Floss site in Bavaria Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Asclepion optimises costs structure – Sale of Floss site in Bavaria – US company Biolase Inc. acquires site and takes over entire workforce – Positive economic effects of the deal anticipated as early as February 2002 – Consistent implementation of cost-cutting measures announced earlier will be continued Jena, 6 February 2002 – As of 1 February 2002 Asclepion-Meditec AG (securities code no. 531 370) has sold its production facility in Floss near Munich to the European subsidiary of US-based Biolase Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq symbol: BLTI) which showed a tremendous growth in its business development over the past quarters. This step is part of a set of measures introduced in the past financial year and aimed at optimising the cost structure. The sale agreement also guarantees job security at the plant, as Biolase has taken over the entire workforce of ten. Both sides agreed not to disclose the sale price. Asclepion anticipates that the positive economic impact of the sale of the Floss facility will be effective as early as February 2002. These include a considerable improvement in the group’s cost structure and reduced complexity costs resulting from the streamlined site structure. At the Floss site, Asclepion produced small numbers of standard lasers and provided services. The move to Asclepion’s new company building at Jena meant that production processes and other internal workflows were optimised, so that these services can now be provided at Jena. Asclepion is looking to press ahead with its cost-cutting and optimisation programme in the future. Besides optimising the location structure and the number of employees, this also involves reducing overheads and considerably streamlining internal processes. These measures had already started to produce positive results in the fourth quarter of the last financial year. Asclepion-Meditec AG Asclepion-Meditec AG (Securities Id. No.: 531 370, symbol: AFX, www.asclepion.com) with subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Italy and the USA is one of the global technology and innovation leaders of laser medicine. Asclepion launched the world’s first excimer laser for refractive surgery in 1986. Other world firsts include the YAG laser for photo disruption (1981) and the erbium dental laser (1991). The company is the largest European manufacturer of laser systems for ophthalmology (vision correction and eye disease), dermatology (aesthetic applications like laser hair removal or tattoo removal) and dentistry (virtually pain-free caries treatment). Furthermore the company has an extensive worldwide service network. Contact: Asclepion-Meditec AG Jens Brajer Investor Relations/Public Relations Phone: +49 (0) 36 41 / 2 20 – 1 05 Fax: +49 (0) 36 41 / 2 20 – 1 02 E-mail: jb@asclepion.com end of message, (c)DGAP 08.02.2002