Higher turnover and a new member of Board of Directors

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November 2004
 

LPKF Laser & Electronics AG enters Q4 2004 with higher turnover and a new member of Board of Managing Directors

Garbsen/Hanover, 18 November 2004 - LPKF Laser & Electronics AG, headquartered in Garbsen/Hanover, is a globally active specialist for system and process solutions for PCB technology and microelectronics. The company emphasised its positive development by increasing its turnover further at the end of the third quarter 2004.

Turnover in the first nine months of the ongoing 2004 financial year rose to Euro 17.18 million (Q3/2003 Euro 16.20 million) despite the weak dollar. The reported growth in turnover is largely attributable to the Laser segment which has benefited from new and further developments of its Laser Drilling and Cutting Systems.

EBIT has dropped to Euro 0.68 million (Q3/2003 Euro 1.13 million). The EBIT was mainly depressed by higher marketing and distribution costs (Euro 0.62 million), higher development costs for laser systems and ProtoMats which cannot be capitalised according to the strict IFRS criteria, and the weakness of the dollar (Euro 0.34 million).

Considering these factors, the profit is Euro 0.13 million (Q3/2003 Euro 0.73 million).

Despite the factors depressing the results and the closing of two major orders worth Euro 2.7 million last year which had a major positive effect on the Q3/2003 results, the company was still able to lift its financial resources slightly to Euro 6.12 million (Q3/2003 Euro 5.63 million) and to raise its capital ratio to 72.5 per cent (Q3/2003 72.2 per cent).

The higher distribution and marketing costs in Q3/2004 were implemented to increase turnover further. The recently developed products for PCB production will be showcased at the most important trade fairs and are aimed at opening up new markets. A particularly strong growth in turnover is expected in Asia where turnover in 2004 has already grown by around 55 per cent.

Management has set a turnover target of Euro 30 million for 2005, and intends to double turnover between 2004 and 2007.

Against this background, Bernd Lange, who has long been LPKF’s Business Development Manager and responsible for marketing, has been appointed to the Board of Managing Directors with immediate effect. Bernd Lange will be responsible for Development and Marketing at LPKF.

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