Interim report May - October 2008/09

Interim report May - October 2008/09 

•	Order bookings rose 16* percent. Order backlog at an all time high level of
SEK 6,392 M. 
•	Net sales amounted to SEK 2,492 M, an increase by 16* percent.
•	Operating profit amounted to SEK 118 M (195).
•	Profit after taxes amounted to SEK 59 M (126). 
•	Earnings per share after dilution was SEK 0.67 (1.38).
•	Cash flow from operating activities was negative SEK 95 M (pos. 140). In the
second quarter cash flow was positive SEK 68 M.
•	New guidance: For the full year 2008/09, Elekta's net sales are expected to
grow by more than 15 percent in local currency. The operating profit is expected
to grow by 20-25 percent. The previous outlook on operating profit was a growth
of more than 15 percent.

* Compared to the same period last fiscal year at unchanged exchange rates. 

President Tomas Puusepp comments 

Demand for Elekta's clinical solutions, products and services remains strong.
Elekta continues to strengthen its market share and the product portfolio is
more competitive than ever before. In the US the newly decided reimbursement
rules for 2009 support further investments in advanced cancer care, especially
in IMRT where Elekta has excellent solutions. 

Order bookings on a rolling twelve-month basis increased by 18 percent. From the
beginning of this fiscal year, the order backlog has increased by 26 percent,
reflecting solid busi-ness growth as well as favorable currency movements. 

The introduction of Elekta VMAT has been successful and this technology is quite
rapidly becoming the new standard of care in radiation oncology. This is a
growth area, particularly with our large installed base. We are also expanding
geographically into new markets. A growth driver for emerging markets is our
highly competitive linear accelerator platform Elekta Compact™. 

The demand for Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ remains high and we see an
increased interest from oncology centers, besides the traditional neurosurgeons.
The order intake from Japan, where we received regulatory approval in May, is
proceeding according to plan. 

Elekta had a strong presence at this year's large scientific meetings, ESTRO,
ASTRO and CNS, and for the first time we showed our entire product portfolio
under one common brand. It was clear to all attendants that Elekta today is a
technology leader and comprehensive pro-vider of treatment solutions for cancer
and brain disorders, and that our latest acquisition, CMS, is now integrated in
our offering. 

The currency movements during the past months will be positive for Elekta's
financial performance. We have secured the present fiscal year with hedging on
favorable currency rates and in accordance with our policy we have also hedged
into next fiscal year. 

The financial crisis has so far had a limited effect on investments in cancer
care. Looking beyond the present fiscal year, we can however not exclude that a
worldwide recession might also affect cancer care. However, substantial capacity
shortage prevails in large parts of the world and treatment of life threatening
diseases such as cancer is among the last health care investments to be cut down
on. 

The six months result was negatively affected by product mix, higher costs
originated from geographical expansion and strengthened marketing activities and
to some extent by postponed shipments. I am confident that we will deliver
according to our new outlook for 2008/09 since approximately SEK 50 M of the
cost increase was related to one-off cost in the first half of the year and a
substantial part of the order backlog will be delivered during this fiscal year.

We expect 2008/09 operating profit to grow by 20-25 percent. The earlier outlook
on operating profit was a growth of more than 15 percent. Our outlook on
Elekta's net sales for 2008/09 remains.

Tomas Puusepp
President and CEO




For further information, please contact:

Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 520, e-mail: tomas.puusepp@elekta.com

Håkan Bergström, CFO, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 547, e-mail: hakan.bergstrom@elekta.com 

Lena Schattauer, Investor Relations, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 722, e-mail: lena.schattauer@elekta.com 


About Elekta

Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical
solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops
sophisticated state of the art tools and treatment planning systems for
radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as workflow enhancing software
systems across the spectrum of cancer care.

Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and
resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers
and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives,
making the future possible today.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 5,000
hospitals globally, and every day more than 100,000 patients receive diagnosis,
treatment or follow-up with the help of a solution from the Elekta Group.

Elekta employs around 2,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarter is
located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange
under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta, please visit
www.elekta.com.