Leica financial results
Leica financial results of first half of fiscal year 2008/2009:
- For the first six months of the current fiscal year (up to September 30, 2008) the Group led by Leica Camera AG registered sales of € 52.0 million. As expected, sales in the photo segment fell to €30.6 million. Sales in sports optics came to € 13.2 million. The sales downturn as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year is due to the reluctance to buy before the photokina trade fair, cyclical fluctuations in the buyer regions, as well as the phasing-out of products that reached the end of their life cycles.
- As expected, the net income/loss of the Group as compared to the prior year period fell by€ 13.7 million to a Group net loss for the year of € 7.2 million. This negative result is primarily due to the decrease in sales and to increased development costs. The Company was able to establish cost savings in other operating expenses, thereby partially counteracting this trend. As a result of the success at the photokina trade fair the Company registered increased order inflow already in October 2008, leading to expectations of higher sales in the second half of the year.
- The number of employees in the Group has increased from 987 to 1,061.
- For fiscal 2008/2009 the Board of Management continues to expect a Group net loss in the higher one-digit Euro million range, resulting from research and development expenditure, selling costs, delayed market introduction of new products, as well as the clouding of the economy and the distress in the financial markets. The same applies for the single-entity financial statements of Leica Camera AG. Due to the successful market introduction of innovative products, the S2 system in particular, at the photokina in 2008, the Board of Management deems possible a break-even to slightly positive result in the fiscal year 2009/2010.
Source: Leica