News

Stable Growth at Analytik Jena after Nine Months

• Sales within range of forecasts with 10.2 % increase
• Operating earnings below expectations
• Dividend payment remains goal for the financial year

Jena, August 12, 2010 — With sales of EUR 59.6 m, Analytik Jena AG (Frankfurt DE0005213508, Prime Standard: AJA) has achieved an important milestone towards being able to close the current financial year with record sales once again. This was announced today by the analytical measuring technology manufacturer at the presentation of its nine-month figures.

Sales and Earnings

Analytik Jena generated consolidated sales of EUR 59.6 m (previous year EUR 54.1 m) in the first nine months of financial year 2009/2010, equivalent to a year-on-year increase of 10.2 %. Operating earnings (EBIT) amount to EUR 3.2 m (previous year EUR 4.9 m), a decline of 33.5 % as against the previous year. The EBIT margin decreased significantly in the reporting period, ending it at 5.4 % (previous year 9.0 %). Analytik Jena posted a net profit of EUR 2.5 m, corresponding to earnings per share of EUR 0.47 (previous year EUR 0.55).

"With its nine-month figures, the Company is continuing its overall successful business development. In addition to new record sales, we also want to exceed the previous year in terms of earnings per share", said Klaus Berka, Chairman of the Executive Board of Analytik Jena AG. "The causes of our below-expectations result after nine months, and of the adjusted key figures for the year 2009/2010 as a whole, are mainly temporary effects which occurred across all business units", continued Berka.

According to the Company, this is attributable to the persistent disappointing sales in the Optics segment, where the anticipated recovery has not yet occurred. Operating earnings also include one-off costs arising from combination of the two subsidiaries Analytik Jena Japan Co. Ltd. and CyBio Japan Co. Ltd., which is being liquidated, in the amount of approximately EUR 0.3 m. Write-downs totaling around EUR 0.6 m in relation to the purchase price allocation as part of the acquisition of Biometra and CyBio must also be taken into account. The EUR 1.2 m decrease in sales in Analytical Instrumentation as against the previous year also reduced operating earnings.

In the core business of Analytical Instrumentation, Analytik Jena again saw a stable sales development, generating sales of EUR 35.9 m (previous year EUR 37.1 m). However, the Company is still below its figures for the previous year. As at the end of June, Analytik Jena managed to exceed the previous year’s level of incoming orders in Analytical Instrumentation for the first time in the financial year. In view of the two major orders gained in the prior-year period with a volume of approximately EUR 3.5 m, this can be considered an excellent development. In the current fourth quarter, the Company expects to be able to slightly exceed the previous year’s annual sales in this division.

The growth segment of Life Science also continued its positive sales development with strong growth rates. Here the Group generated sales of EUR 20.3 m (previous year EUR 12.1 m) after nine months, equivalent to a 67.5 % increase. It should be noted that the subsidiaries Biometra GmbH and CyBio AG were not yet fully consolidated in the equivalent period of the previous year. Overall, this division is currently still going through a phase dominated by research and development as well as structuring of sales.

In the Optics division, Analytik Jena posted profitable sales of EUR 3.4 m (previous year EUR 4.9 m) in the reporting period, 29.9 % lower than in the previous year.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

The Group’s total assets rose as of the reporting date June 30, 2010, amounting to EUR 79.7 m as compared to EUR 75.5 m as of September 30, 2009. Equity increased to EUR 40.2 m (September 30, 2009: EUR 38.4 m), equal to an equity ratio of 50.4 %. The Group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR 7.2 m as of the end of the reporting period, compared to EUR 10.4 m as of September 30, 2009.

Outlook

For financial year 2009/2010, the Analytik Jena Group anticipates earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of around EUR 5.0 m and earnings per share (EPS) of approximately EUR 0.60 with revenue amounting to roughly EUR 80.0 m. In the fourth quarter, Analytik Jena will focus on improving earnings on the basis of comparatively higher sales. In Analytical Instrumentation, the Company expects the current remaining decline in sales to be cancelled out or exceeded. In the coming quarter, the challenge in the high-growth Life Science segment will be to continue the establishment of sales structures in the two key markets of Japan and China, which was initiated at the start of the year, in order to generate significant sales in the coming financial year. In the Optics division, a slight recovery of the market is anticipated towards the end of the year following a very weak start into the financial year. This recovery is also expected to be reflected in increasing sales.

"We expect our growth path to be continued in our operating business, after the current stabilization phase and we anticipate that we will be able to close financial year 2009/2010 successfully and with record sales despite slightly adjusted results", emphasizes Berka.

The detailed financial report is available at
http://berichte.analytik-jena.de/9-MonthReport_0910.pdf