Ad-hoc | 24 May 2002 07:56

Gericom AG english

Gericom AG: English Ad-hoc-announcement processed and transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Intel’s surprising cancellation of the P4 small form factor caused a decline in sales in the 1st quarter of 2002 – nonetheless, the EBIT margin was slightly up on that for 2001 – the figures for last April were surpassed by 17% Linz, May 24, 2002. Following a successful 2001 financial year, as previously announced in an ad-hoc statement from February 12, GERICOM, which is listed on the “New Market” in Frankfurt (WKN 565 773), had a far more difficult 1st quarter 2002. The reason for this situation was the delayed introduction of the P4 processor. Intel had requested Gericom to use the small form factor (SFF) CPU up to the introduction of the mobile P4 CPU at the beginning of March and then in mid-January, to the surprise of Gericom, Intel announced that the SFF CPU would only be supplied to Japan. Already existing orders of customers for notebooks with this Intel P4-CPU could no longer be fulfilled. A large customers switched to AMD notebooks from the competition. Gericom reacted flexible to this development and delivers now also notebooks with AMD CPUs since April, 1. As a consequence of these difficulties, sales revenues in the 1st quarter amounted to EUR 87.99 m (1st quarter 2001: EUR 163.3 m), EBIT to EUR 4.34 m (1st quarter 2001: EUR 8.13 m). There was a satisfactory increase in gross margins from 6.7% to 8.8% and administrative, sales and distribution costs remained virtually unchanged. As a result, despite the fall in sales, a respectable EBIT margin of 4.93% was achieved along with a positive cash flow. EBIT margin optimisation will continue to play a leading role in our corporate policy. The profit for the period amounted to EUR 3.14 m. Strategic improvement As a supplement to the mainstream notebooks, niche products in the notebook area are also the object of expansion. Since May 1, 2002, Gericom sells the outdoor-notebook X5, which ensures the use in challenging situations through shock- and splash-resistance. From June 1, 2002, Gericom will offer a design notebook with a Transmeta-CPU. In the second half of the year, the product range is to be further enlarged with PC-similar products. Sales of April 2001 were exceeded in April 2002 by 17%, even though the 2001 result was already over 130% up on that of 2000. The result for the year will depend on further economic developments. If, as expected, consumer spending picks up in the second half of 2002, we are confident that we can achieve our annual targets. Contact GERICOM AG Michaela Hochreiter Investor Relations Manager Telefon: +43-732-7664-9113 Telefax: +43-732-7664-113 Mobil: +43-664-185 3371 E-Mail: hochreiter@gericom.com http://www.gericom.com end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 24.05.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 565 773; ISIN: AT0000729108; Index: Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 240756 Mai 02