Ad-hoc | 23 August 2002 07:51

Gericom AG english

GERICOM back on growth course Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– GERICOM back on growth course Linz, August 23, 2002. Following a dip in GERICOM AG sales at the beginning of the year, the second quarter of 2002 already saw the company back on a dynamic growth course. Sales for the period from April to June 2002 were 17% up on the comparable figure of the preceding year, rising from EUR 104.9 m to EUR 123 m. The profit for the period also improved by 47% to EUR 5.0 m (2001: EUR 3.4 m). At EUR 5.5 m, the operating result (EBIT) was also well above that of the preceding year (EUR 5.2 m). The upward trend of the second quarter was further underlined by order backlog, which was 14.8% up at EUR 46.1 m (June 30, 2001: EUR 40.2 m). Nonetheless, despite the positive developments in the second quarter, the fall in sales and results during the first quarter could not be entirely recovered by the middle of the year. The accumulated sales volume for the first half of 2002 of around EUR 211 m was 21.3% below the figure for the preceding year (EUR 268.2 m). Half-year EBIT amounted to EUR 9.9 m. This represented a fall of 25.7% as compared to the high value of the preceding year (2001: EUR 13.3 m). The profit for the period for the first half-year totalled EUR 8.2 m (2001: EUR 8.9 m). The profit per share in the first half of 2002 amounted to EUR 0.75 (HY 1 2001: EUR 0.82). 82% of total sales in the 1st half of 2002 derived from notebooks (HY1 2001: 80%), which represent GERICOM’s main sales area. Moreover, according to Dataquest, GERICOM was able to maintain its leadership in the German end customer notebook market during the second quarter of 2002. The success of GERICOM’s European growth strategy is reflected by a dynamic increase in Western European sales. In the first six months of 2002, the share of sales outside the German-speaking region already exceeded 24% (HY1 2001: 14.8%). For 2002, GERICOM continues to expect that sales and the profit will roughly emulate the record levels of the preceding year. A detailed press release and the entire quarterly report will be available at the internet address http://www.gericom.com from today onwards. We are also pleased to supply any further information that you may require: GERICOM Investor Relations E-mail: investor@gericom.com end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 23.08.2002 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 565 773; ISIN: AT0000729108; Index: Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 230751 Aug 02