STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG / Half Year Results/Interim Report
28.07.2010 07:39
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STRATEC reports further substantial growth in first half of 2010
- Major new development and supply agreement concluded with bioMérieux
- Sales of EUR 43.1 million (+18.0%; Q1-Q2/2009: EUR 36.6 million)
- EBIT margin increased by 1.6% points to 18.7% (Q1-Q2/2009: 17.1%)
- Consolidated net income of EUR 6.1 million (+24.0%; Q1-Q2/2009: EUR 4.9
million)
- Substantial supply backlog in Q2 due to relocation of Swiss production
activities
- NEO analyzer system launched by Immucor in Europe and USA
- Three further new systems to be launched by partners in second half of
2010
Birkenfeld, July 28, 2010
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG today announced its results for the period
from January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010, upon the publication of its interim
report as of June 30, 2010.
|[![CDATA[|[pre|]]]|]
Key Figures (EUR thousand) 01.01.- 01.01.- Change
06.30.2010 06.30.2009
Sales 43,140 36,552 + 18.0%
Overall performance 48,821 40,355 + 21.0%
EBITDA 9,472 7,526 + 25.9%
EBIT 8,055 6,231 + 29.3%
Consolidated net income 6,069 4,894 + 24.0%
Earnings per share (EUR) 0.53 0.43 + 23.3%
EBIT margin (%) 18.7 17.1
|[![CDATA[|[/pre|]]]|]
Financial performance - STRATEC increased first-half year sales by 18.0 %
from EUR 36.6 million in the previous year's period to EUR 43.1 million.
Earnings growth accelerated to 24.0% yielding net income of EUR 6.1
million compared to EUR 4.9 million in the previous year. EBIT margin
amounted to 18.7% as of June 30, 2010 (previous year: 17.1%). Production
was stockpiled in the first half of 2010 in preparation for the relocation
of the Swiss production activities into a new building, and this brief
interruption (along with the re-auditing process required as a result and
now completed) and high volumes of customer demand led to a supply backlog
of around EUR 3.4 million. It is expected that this will have been worked
down by the end of the third quarter.
Project development - Alongside the market launch of NEO by Immucor, which
was the first STRATEC analyzer system to be newly launched in the current
year and which received FDA approval in the USA just a few weeks after its
approval in Europe, the first half of 2010 saw STRATEC lay two further
important foundations for the company's future development. The company
prepared the takeover of the US company Ballista Inc., the execution of
which was announced on July 2, 2010. STRATEC also concluded a significant
new development and supply agreement with bioMérieux.
bioMérieux, a partner previously largely reliant on internally developed
solutions, has commissioned STRATEC to develop and produce various core
components for the next generation VIDAS, one of the most widely used
in-vitro diagnostics systems worldwide. This order should contribute to the
company's growth from 2012 onwards, and is a reflection of current
developments within the industry. Diagnostics companies are focusing on
their core competencies, namely the development and marketing of reagents,
while commissioning highly-specialized independent partners such as STRATEC
to supply the corresponding automation and instrumentation solutions. This
provides the diagnostics companies with a major advantage in the critical
factor of time-to-market, as well as enabling them to reliably plan their
development financing.
Other development - As a longstanding partner to its customers, STRATEC can
offer in-depth expertise and a very broad range of technology. This
competitive advantage is to be further extended by permanently drawing on
innovations, enhancing processes and optimizing the value for money offered
by the company. The three acquisitions made by STRATEC in recent years
should be viewed against this backdrop, enabling STRATEC to acquire
technology and expertise that would otherwise have had to be built up
internally over many years. STRATEC in turn provides its partners with
added value that they would otherwise have to procure from several external
sources and then integrate into their overall solutions.
The acquisition of US based Ballista in the beginning of July 2010 was
driven by similar considerations. Core competencies in the field of optics
systems will now enable STRATEC and Ballista to market joint solutions
offering considerable benefits to their partners. Furthermore, by jointly
developing a competence center for the solutions on offer at the STRATEC
Group, it will be possible to provide the partners with hands-on, prompt
assistance in their development and integration projects. In addition, by
building up a network of suppliers in the US dollar area, STRATEC aims to
benefit from natural hedging, thus offsetting the effects of currency
fluctuations. The maximum purchase price of US$ 5.2 million, partly
dependent on the company's performance, is being settled from cash flow and
treasury stock. The treasury stock shares were acquired within a share
buyback program in 2008 at an average purchase price of around EUR 15.
STRATEC expects Ballista, which will be consolidated into group accounting
from July 1, 2010, to contribute to the further growth of the STRATEC Group
in the near future.
The new building in Birkenfeld, where STRATEC's development teams will work
together centrally and enjoy additional capacity, is scheduled to be ready
for occupancy in November 2010. Construction progress can be viewed via the
webcam available on STRATEC's homepage at www.stratec-biomedical.de.
Personnel development - Including temporary employees the STRATEC Group had
a total workforce of 399 employees as of June 30, 2010 (June 30, 2009:
325). Compared to March 31, 2010 the STRATEC Group expanded its workforce
by twelve.
Outlook - Given the imminent market launches of analyzer systems by
STRATEC's partners, DiaSorin, Gen-Probe und QIAGEN, and the strong
performance of existing systems, STRATEC expects to see further growth in
the second half of the year, with a steeper trajectory in the fourth
quarter of 2010.
Therefore the company hereby confirms its previous financial forecast,
namely that sales for the 2010 financial year will range between EUR 96
million and EUR 102 million (sales in 2009: EUR 79.6 million) with an EBIT
margin of more than 19%. Furthermore a revenue compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of more than 15% is expected between 2010 and 2012.
Hermann Leistner, Chairman of STRATEC's Board of Management commented: 'We
and our partners are currently enjoying the unprecedented challenge of
launching four new analyzer systems. Given different regulatory timelines
across end-user markets, these market launches should be completed by the
end of the 2011 financial year, suggesting that 2012 will be the first year
in which all four new systems contribute fully to revenue growth. 2012 will
also see the initial market launches of the next wave of systems that are
currently in development. With this robust outlook, we look to the future
with great confidence.'
Further details can be found in our interim report as of June 30, 2010,
which has been published at www.stratec-biomedical.de > Investor Relations
> IR News > Financial Reports.
About STRATEC
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG (www.stratec-biomedical.de) designs and
manufactures fully automated systems for its partners in the fields of
clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. These partners market such systems,
in general together with their own reagents, to laboratories, blood banks
and research institutes around the world. The company develops its products
on the basis of its own patented technologies. Shares in the company (ISIN:
DE0007289001) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange.
The STRATEC Group consists of the publicly listed parent company STRATEC
Biomedical Systems AG and of subsidiaries and second-tier subsidiaries in
Germany, the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Romania.
Further information can be obtained from:
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
André Loy, Investor Relations
Gewerbestr. 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Phone: +49 7082 7916 190
Fax: +49 7082 7916 999
ir@stratec-biomedical.de
www.stratec-biomedical.de
28.07.2010 07:39 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Press Release distributed by DGAP. Medienarchiv at |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap-medientreff.de"|]www.dgap-medientreff.de|[/a|]]]|] and |[![CDATA[|[a href="http://www.dgap.de"|]www.dgap.de|[/a|]]]|]
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Language: English
Company: STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
GewerbestraÃe 37
75217 Birkenfeld
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)7082 7916 0
Fax: +49 (0)7082 7916 999
E-mail: info@stratec-biomedical.de
Internet: www.stratec-biomedical.de
ISIN: DE0007289001
WKN: 728900
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in München, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
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DGAP-News: STRATEC reports further substantial growth in first half of 2010
| Source: EQS Group AG