ots Ad hoc-Service: Basler AG <DE0005102008>
Ahrensburg (ots Ad hoc-Service) -
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Basler AG: Sales and inflow of orders again up in Q3 2000 - Sales of the first nine months of 2000 nearly 31 % above the comparable period in 1999 - Incoming orders of the first nine months 25 % above prior-year level - EBIT in line with expectations
Basler AG - leading supplier of artificial vision systems, the technology of artificial vision - could again increase its sales and incoming orders in the first nine months of the year 2000 compared with the first nine months of the previous year. With sales of DM 19.8 mio and total operating performance of 19.1 mio in Q3, the sales in the first nine months of the year 2000 sums up to DM 63.4 mio (total operating performance: DM 61.4 mio), an 31% plus on the comparable period in 1999. Incoming orders amounted to DM 63.2 mio as from 30/09/2000, an increase by 25% compared with the figures of the previous year. As announced with the half-year result 2000 already, Q3 was marked by still high investments in the opening up of the vision technology growth market. In this respect, the focus is on the younger and promising business units of this high-tech company (Display Inspection, Machine Vision Components, Web Inspection). Despite or just because of the present market fluctuations in the still largest business unit, Optical Media Inspection, Basler consistently maintains its growth strategy by addressing several separate independent markets. Up to last year, inspection systems for CD-Rs accounted for the most part of sales in this business unit. This portion could mainly be compensated through the strongly growing business with DVD media. The planned growth rates could, however, not be realised in this weak phase of the CD-R market. Since this business unit contributes more than the average to the total earnings before interest and shares (EBIT) of Basler AG, the result of Q3 is burdened accordingly. In the first nine months of this year, the EBIT summed up to DM -300,000. The DVFA-result is also DM -300,000 leading to a result per share of DM -0.09 (Q3 2000: EBIT DM -1.97 mio/DVFA result DM -1.45 mio/result per share DM -0.41). Q4 2000 and the annual result will also be marked by high investments in technology and the opening up of markets for the new business units. Basler expects a recovery of the CD-R market in Q3 of 2001 already. Then the young business units will also make a positive contribution to the EBIT of the total company so that the profit zone will again be reached next year. Sales will strongly grow next year as well. "Considering the fact that so far only 15 to 20% of all potential applications in the artificial vision field have been identified, the bulk of growth is still before us," says Dr. Dietmar Ley. At present the world-wide volume of the vision technology market is valued at USD 5 billion, and it is expected to increase by 65% to USD 8.3 billion by 2004. As a consequence, there cannot be any doubt about the medium-term success of the business, adds Ley.
Further Information Christian Hock, Investor Relations Fon ++49 4102 463 175 Basler AG An der Strusbek 60-62 22926 Ahrensburg christian.hoeck@baslerweb.com
www.baslerweb.com
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Original-Content von: Basler AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell