Ad hoc Announcement in Accordance with § 15 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG)
SUSS MicroTec AG: High Order Entry, Positive Earnings in the First Quarter
- Once Again High Order Entry of EUR 43.8 Million (Q1 2007: EUR 26.7 Million)
- Sales of EUR 35.3 Million (Q1 2007: EUR 39.4 Million)
- Positive EBIT of EUR 1.6 Million (Q1 2007: EUR 3.9 Million)
- Free Cash Flow of EUR 2.6 Million (Q1 2007: EUR 0.5 Million)
Munich, Germany, May 6, 2008 - SUSS MicroTec AG (business address: Schleissheimer Straße 90, 85748 Garching; ISIN: DE0007226706), which is listed in the Prime Standard of the Deutsche Börse AG (German Stock Exchange), set off to a successful start in the 2008 Fiscal Year after an exceptionally good fourth quarter in 2007. With order entry of EUR 43.8 million in first quarter 2008, the SUSS MicroTec Group was able to surpass the corresponding previous year’s figure of EUR 26.7 million by approximately 64.1 percent and thus seamlessly sustain momentum from the extremely successful fourth quarter of 2007. The Lithography division, which received several significant orders from advanced packaging customers in Asia during the first three months of the year, made a substantial contribution to the Group’s order growth. Consequently, the order backlog as of March 31, 2008 increased to EUR 83.8 million (March 31, 2007: EUR 65.1 million). In the first quarter of 2008, SUSS MicroTec Group sales amounted to EUR 35.3 million after EUR 39.4 million in 2007.
Reflecting lower sales than in the previous year’s period and sustained margin pressure caused by the continued weakening of the US dollar, gross profit declined in the first quarter from EUR 16.6 million to EUR 14.6 million, or by 12.1%. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) once again came in positive at EUR 1.6 million, although approximately EUR 2.3 million (58.1%) less than in the corresponding period of 2007 (EUR 3.9 million). Earnings after taxes (EAT) totaled EUR 1.0 million, thus approximately EUR 2.5 million below the previous year’s amount (Q1 2007: EUR 3.5 million).
Operating cash flow rose compared to the previous year’s period from EUR 2.2 million to EUR 4.6 million. The Group succeeded in generating free cash flow of EUR 2.6 million (Q1 2007: EUR 0.5 million) despite additional investment in product development and its new ERP system.
The 2008 First Quarter Report is here available for download.
