Ad hoc: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG: Best re...

Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Annual accounts / Best results in the company's history. Pfeiffer Vacuum to pay record dividend. Ad hoc announcement according to §15 WpHG processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Annual accounts / Best results in the company's history. Pfeiffer Vacuum to pay record dividend. Ad hoc announcement according to §15 WpHG processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Asslar, Germany, March 27, 2008. Pfeiffer Vacuum, one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality vacuum pumps, measurement equipment and complete vacuum systems, announces its full, audited results for the 2007 fiscal year. All sales and profitability numbers were able to be significantly increased. The proposed dividend will reach a record level of ¤ 3.15 per share. Highlights at a glance: +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | 2007 | 2006 | Change | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Sales | Euro 192.0 | Euro 179.5 | + 7.0 % | | | million | million | | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Operating profit | Euro 52.8 | Euro 45.0 | + 17.6 % | | (EBIT) | million | million | | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Net income | Euro 37.3 | Euro 29.8 | + 25.2 % | | | million | million | | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Earnings per share | Euro 4.19 | Euro 3.39 | + 23.6 % | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Dividend | Euro 3.15 | Euro 2.50 | + 26.0 % | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | New orders | Euro 200.2 | Euro 175.6 | + 14.0 % | | | million | million | | |--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------| | Orders on hand | Euro 33.8 | Euro 25.6 | + 32.0 % | | | million | million | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ In fiscal 2007, the company succeeded in growing its sales by ¤ 12.5 million, or 7.0 percent, from ¤ 179.5 million to ¤ 192.0 million. This marks the highest sales in the company's history and is within the target corridor for sales that had been announced for 2007. This means that Pfeiffer Vacuum was thus able to go against the influences stemming from the weakness of the U.S. dollar. Although the exchange rate between the dollar and euro had negatively impacted 2007 sales by ¤ 3.8 million, the company generated 21.5 percent of its sales on the American market. At ¤ 52.8 million, the company's operating profit was up sharply by ¤ 7.8 million, or 17.6 percent, from the previous year's outstanding level of ¤ 45.0 million. This represents another significant rise. Totaling ¤ 37.3 million, Pfeiffer Vacuum earned the highest after-tax income in the company's history. After having set a record of ¤ 29.8 million in fiscal 2006, the increase amounts to a further ¤ 7.5 million or 25.2 percent. New orders in 2007 amounted to ¤ 200.2 million, thus breaking the ¤ 200 million sound barrier for the first time in the company's history. The previous year's level of ¤ 175.6 million was significantly surpassed by ¤ 24.6 million or 14.0 percent. As of December 31, 2007, the book-to-bill ratio - the ratio between new orders and sales - stood at 1.04 (2006: 0.98). This means that new orders are thus significantly higher than sales, offering sufficient predictability for the first months of fiscal 2008. Capital expenditures for machinery, IT equipment and buildings rose by nearly 20 percent in 2007 to ¤ 6.7 million, as opposed to ¤ 5.6 million the year before. Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender had this to say about the results: "I am proud of the fact that my Management Board colleague Dr. Matthias Wiemer and I, together with our entire team, have succeeded in again being able to present a successful year for Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG. Totaling 27.5 percent (2006: 25.1 percent), our EBIT margin has again set a new record. We thus continue to number among the most profitable companies in Germany and need not fear any comparison worldwide. Following an outstanding 16.6 percent the year before, our after-tax return on sales now amounted to 19.4 percent in 2007. "At 692 people, our workforce grew by a mere one percent over the year before. In other words: The company achieved its sales and profitability targets through efficiency and productivity gains. We will be rewarding our people's achievement by enabling them to share in the company's profits. "At the Annual Shareholders Meeting, we will propose that a dividend in the amount of ¤ 3.15 per share be distributed. This represents a 26-percent increase over the year before and a distribution rate of over 75 percent. "In spite of the unclear prospects for the economy and the sustained decline of the dollar, we expect to see continued growth in 2008; however we do not wish to make any concrete sales forecast at the present point in time. We continue to view an EBIT margin of between 25 and 27 percent as being realistic. We welcome the fact that our loyalty to our German location is now being rewarded in the form of a lower tax rate in connection with the German corporate tax reform. Beginning in 2008, our tax rate will decline to 31 - 33 percent. This will significantly increase our after-tax return and continue to assure sufficient liquidity for capital investments." Contact: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG Investor Relations Gudrun Geissler Tel. +49 (0) 6441 802 314 Fax +49 (0) 6441 802 365 E-Mail Gudrun.Geissler@pfeiffer-vacuum.de --- End of Message --- Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG Berliner Strasse 43 Asslar Germany WKN: 691660; ISIN: DE0006916604; Index: TecDAX, CDAX, HDAX, MIDCAP, Prime All Share, TECH All Share; Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin, Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München, Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf, Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart, Freiverkehr in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg, Freiverkehr in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover, Freiverkehr in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;
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