Ad hoc: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG: Pfeiffer Vacuum with sound development in the 1st half year of 2009: Sales advance even during economic crisis, Profitability remains high, Order backlog up year on year

Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Quarterly report / Ad hoc: Pfeiffer Vacuum with sound development in the 1st half year of 2009: Sales advance even during economic crisis, Profitability remains high, Order backlog up year on year Ad hoc announcement according to §15 WpHG processed and transmitted by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Asslar, Germany, July 28, 2009. While Pfeiffer Vacuum was unable to completely elude the impact of the financial and economic crisis during the 1st half year of 2009, the company's position continued to develop well. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | H1 / 2009 | H1 / 2008 | Change | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Sales | ¤ 98.6 million | ¤ 95.8 million | + 2.9 % | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Operating profit | ¤ 21.9 million | ¤ 24.3 million | -10.1 % | | (EBIT)* | | | | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Net income | ¤ 15.6 million | ¤ 17.7 million | -12.3 % | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Earnings per share | ¤ 1.82 | ¤ 2.00 | - 9.0 % | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | New orders | ¤ 80.0 million | ¤ 103.3 | -22.6 % | | | | million | | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Order backlog | ¤ 42.4 million | ¤ 41.3 million | + 2.7 % | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Q2 / 2009 | Q2 / 2008 | Change | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Sales | ¤ 46.6 million | ¤ 46.8 million | - 0.4 % | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Operating profit | ¤ 8.9 million | ¤ 11.5 million | -22.9 % | | (EBIT)* | | | | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Net income | ¤ 6.5 million | ¤ 8.4 million | -23.4 % | |----------------------+----------------+----------------+----------| | Earnings per share | ¤ 0.75 | ¤ 0.95 | -21.1 % | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ * Effective 2009 including gain or loss on currency translation; 2008 numbers have been correspondingly adjusted. In these times of global recession, Pfeiffer Vacuum has succeeded in increasing its revenues for the 1st half of 2009 by 2.9 percent over the same period the year before. A major contract from the solar industry for vacuum systems used for thin layer coating of solar cells played a major role in the sales revenue rise. This contract, which the company had received last year, is recognized in sales on percentage-of-completion-basis. All work is progressing on schedule. Regionally, Germany continues to account for the largest share of total sales revenues at 44.3 percent. Pfeiffer Vacuum was able to boost sales on its home market by 27.9 percent to ¤ 43.6 million. Totaling ¤ 25.3 million, sales in the other countries of Europe were down 15.8 percent from the year before. In the United States, Pfeiffer Vacuum's sales revenues advanced by 8.4 percent year on year to ¤ 17.8 million. However, this rise was essentially attributable to exchange rate effects; expressed in U.S. dollars, sales revenues declined by 6.2 percent. At ¤ 11.9 million, sales revenues in Asia and the rest of the world were down 22.2 percent year on year. In terms of the sales mix by markets, the Coating segment remained far and away in first place, with sales revenues here surging by 57.0 percent to ¤ 34.2 million in the first half of 2009. Sales revenues in the Analytical market segment declined by 12.1 percent to ¤ 21.4 million. The heterogeneous market segment of Industrial Applications saw sales slip by 22.7 percent to ¤ 17.4 million. On the other hand, increased public-sector investments in connection with the implementation of various international economic stimulus programs sparked sales revenue growth of 12.0 percent to ¤ 16.5 million in the Research & Development sector. At ¤ 4.2 million, sales revenues in the Chemical and Process Technology segment remained on the prior year's level, while the overall weakness of the semiconductor industry drove sales revenues down by 40.5 percent to ¤ 4.9 million. In comparison with the extremely strong period the year before the company saw new orders decline by 22.6 percent to ¤ 80.0 million during the 1st half of 2009. What is noteworthy in this connection, though, is that the ¤ 41.6 million in new orders during the 2nd quarter of 2009 represented an 8.3 percent rise over the 1st quarter of 2009. At ¤ 42.4 million, the level of order backlog at the end of June 2009 was up 2.7 percent over the previous year. The assumption that the downturn has bottomed out in the 1st quarter seems to prove true. Pfeiffer Vacuum continues to focus on cost control and on sustaining high margins. Yet the product mix, economies of scale and costs in conjunction with the modernization and reorganization of the turbopump production facilities burdened gross margin, which at 43.6 percent was down 3.4 percentage points from the year before. This effect, coupled with intensified selling activities, caused the EBIT margin to decline by 3.2 percentage points to 22.2 percent. However, these margins rank Pfeiffer Vacuum a leader in the industrial environment. Following payment of the dividend in the total amount of ¤ 28.5 million on May 27, 2009, cash and cash equivalents as at June 30, 2009, totaled ¤ 47.4 million, shareholders' equity ¤ 125.6 million. At 85.3 percent, the equity ratio of debt-free Pfeiffer Vacuum at the close of the second quarter of 2009 continued to remain far above average levels. Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender comments: "The effects of the economic crisis is now strongly noticeable in the mechanical engineering industry. Nevertheless, we were able to record sound development of our business in the first half of 2009. Our policy of a broad-based alignment of our vacuum solution business and our ability to offer leading technology in any number of fields is paying off. Particularly our engagement in research and development is enabling us to expand our know-how in forward-looking growth sectors. Highly promising opportunities are opening up for example in the field of modern energy supply. We are presently conducting intensive talks with the purchasing and development departments at many customers relating to future projects. However, we do not have the visibility to predict when these talks will manifest themselves in the form of concrete orders. Yet we can nevertheless reiterate our guidance calling for sales revenues potentially declining by up to 10 to 15 percent in a worst-case scenario, as well as an EBIT margin in excess of 20 percent for the full 2009 fiscal year." The full press release including financial tables as well as the respective quarterly report can be found on our web site at www.pfeiffer-vacuum.net . Contact: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG Investor Relations Dr. Brigitte Looss Tel. +49 (0) 6441 802 346 Fax +49 (0) 6441 802 365 E-Mail Brigitte.Looss@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: 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, Open Market in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Regulierter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;