DGAP-News: Roth & Rau AG: Annual results document strong growth in 2007

Roth & Rau AG / Final Results

02.04.2008 

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
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- Annual results document strong growth in 2007 
- Focal points in 2008: expansion of international sales and service
capacities and further improvement in profitability

Hohenstein-Ernstthal/Munich, 2 April 2008 – At today’s Annual Results Press
and Analysts’ Conference, the Management Board of Roth & Rau AG presented
its results for the 2007 financial year. 'We can look back on the most
successful financial year in the company’s history. Roth & Rau AG achieved
substantial growth in all divisions. Not only did we generate high growth
rates in our key financial figures, such as sales and earnings, thus
exceeding our forecasts; we also extended production capacities at our
location in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, adding 7.500 m² of new production space
and an extra 2,600 m² of office space, as well as creating 99 new jobs',
commented Dr. Dietmar Roth, CEO of Roth & Rau AG, in his summary of events
in the financial year.

Sales showed substantial growth of 241.2 % to reach EUR 146,229k. Of this
sum, EUR 137,401k was attributable to the photovoltaic division. Sales at
this segment thus improved by 279.2 % compared with the previous year. Its
share of total sales showed a corresponding increase of 9.4 percentage
points to 94.0 % (2006: 84.6 %). This growth was driven in particular by
increased demand within the photovoltaic industry, which posted high rates
of growth once again in 2007. 'Our customers required increasingly high
volumes of production capacity for large cell factories and complete
solutions for the fully automated production of crystalline silicon solar
cells. We recognised this trend at an early stage and have consistently
realigned our products to meet market requirements,' continued Dr. Roth.
The second division, plasma and ion beam technology, which plays a major
strategic role at the company on account of its function as a germ cell for
trailblazing developments, also reported pleasing sales growth of 33.5 %.
This division accounted for 6 %, or EUR 8,828k, of total sales.

The share of sales attributable to exports amounted to 59.0 % in the 2007
financial year and thus fell considerably short of the previous year’s
figure of 74.9 %. The growth in the domestic business is due to the large
share of sales generated by the major Conergy project in 2007. In view of
the high volume of orders received from abroad, this ratio is set to
reverse once again in 2007, resulting in a substantially larger share of
sales being generated by exports. One of the company’s strategic focuses in
2008 will therefore involve expanding its international sales and service
capacities. 'Alongside our existing representative office in Shanghai, in
March 2008 we also founded a subsidiary in the USA and will be building
this up in the coming months. Not only that, we are also planning to open
sales and service offices in emerging markets, such as India', added
company CFO Carsten Bovenschen.

Investments and earnings position 
Roth & Rau AG has invested heavily in expanding its production capacities
in order to lay a foundation for maintaining its growth course in the
coming years. Investment expenditure amounted to EUR 8,902k in the 2007
financial year and was thus 338.1 % higher than in the previous year.
Notwithstanding this high level of investment, the company posted earnings
before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 13,864k, equivalent to an EBIT
margin of 9.5 %. Operating earnings (EBIT) in the photovoltaic division
rose by 208.5 % to EUR 13,245k, while earnings in the plasma and ion beam
technology division showed even more marked growth of 242.6 % to reach EUR
579k. 'We are very satisfied with our earnings performance. One of our
focuses in the 2008 financial year will be on raising our profitability. We
will work on this by optimising our internal processes and increasing the
degree of standardisation of our products. Moreover, we also see potential
for optimising our costs of material', remarked Bovenschen. Due to the
substantial growth in business volumes, costs of material had risen from
EUR 31,781k to EUR 118,412k.

Outlook 
The dynamic developments seen in the past year have continued at the
beginning of the new financial year as well. Orders of EUR 53.8m were
received in the first two months of 2008 already. Positive momentum is
expected to come in particular from the photovoltaic industry, for which
current market studies have forecast continued dynamic growth. In view of
this, the Management Board has affirmed its sales forecast of at least EUR
235m for the 2008 financial year.

Contact:
Haubrok Investor Relations GmbH
Simone Gorny
Kaistraße 16
40221 Düsseldorf
Tel.: +49 (0) 211/30126-130
Fax: +49 (0)211/30126-172
E-Mail: s.gorny@haubrok.de


DGAP 02.04.2008 
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Language:     English
Issuer:       Roth & Rau AG
              An der Baumschule 6-8
              09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal
              Deutschland
Phone:        0372349880
Fax:          03723 498825
E-mail:       info@roth-rau.de
Internet:     www.roth-rau.de
ISIN:         DE000A0JCZ51
WKN:          A0JCZ5
Listed:       Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, München, Stuttgart; Entry
              Standard in Frankfurt
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
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