REGENSBURG, GERMANY--(Marketwire - July 16, 2009) -
- Plough back of accumulated profit of EUR 1.8M resolved - Additional liquidity available to continue company growth - GENEART satisfied with robust business performance in 2009 - New structure of board of directors presented
Regensburg, July 16, 2009 - During today’s annual general meeting of GENEART AG, global leader in gene synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, shareholders resolved with a large majority to plough back and carry forward the accumulated profit of EUR 1,819,248.42. GENEART AG’s net profit for the 2008 fiscal year was EUR 0.73M. The group’s net profit (IFRS) totaled EUR 0.67M with net sales of EUR 15.7M. GENEART will utilize the retained liquidity for further company growth. In addition to the resolution on the appropriation of profits, the shareholders also approved all other agenda items including the discharge of the board of directors and supervisory board, the appointment of auditors for 2009 and anticipatory resolutions for the amendment of the company’s articles of association regarding the intended act on the implementation of the shareholder guidelines (“ARUG”).
GENEART AG’s entire new board of directors answered all shareholders’ questions and was available for discussions. Daniel Seibert, the new CFO, responsible for Controlling & Accounting, Investor Relations, Human Resources and Procurement, joined the management team around Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner (CEO and Chief Scientific Officer) last month. The management team had already been complemented in May 2009 by Dr. Marcus Graf, co-founder of the company and new Chief Operating Officer, and Bernd Merkl as new Chief Business Officer.
Considering the difficult economic environment GENEART AG’s board of directors expressed its overall satisfaction with the 2009 business performance so far in its annual general meeting. Daniel Seibert: “The new level of automation and miniaturization, which was reached in particular in 2008, led to a significant and sustained reduction in production costs. GENEART’s powerful team created an excellent basis to expand its position as market leader and to fashion the market consolidation in a leading position. In addition, we must not forget that gene synthesis opens up potential for multifaceted applications, and is only in its early stages, when measured by its economic impact for the pharmaceutical, biotech and consumer industries,”
In 2008 GENEART succeeded in continuing along the same path the company has treaded from its foundation in 1999 to its advancement to the world market leader in gene synthesis. This allowed GENEART to expand its capacities again, to further increase the level of automation and miniaturization, and thus, to extend its market position as well as its technology leadership. So far, GENEART is satisfied with the order development of small and mid-sized customers this year. Only recently a supply contract was negotiated with the Max Planck Institute and an exclusive framework contract was finalized with Actelion. In this segment an unchanged course for growth could be followed. However, major contracts in the magnitude of EUR 500 thousand, like the NIH order in the years 2007 and 2008, still fail to materialize, and therefore make planning more difficult.
Keeping this in mind, the company expects net sales to reach at least previous year’s levels of EUR 16M. Assuming an improved market situation in the second half of the year and provided further strategic measures for the further consolidation of the market, net sales of EUR 17M to 18M and a balanced EBIT can be achieved.
For further inquiries, please contact: Dr. Karoline Stürmer GENEART AG Josef-Engert-Str. 11 93053 Regensburg Germany Phone: +49-(0)941-942 76-417 Fax: +49-(0)941-942 76-711 ir@geneart.com www.geneart.com Frank Ostermair Better Orange IR & HV AG Haidelweg 48 81241 Munich Germany Phone: +49-(0)89-8896906-10 Fax: +49-(0)89-8896906-66 info@better-orange.de www.better-orange.de
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This document may contain estimates, prognoses and opinions about company plans and objectives, products or services, future results, opinions about these results or opinions leading up to these results. All these projections into the future are subject to risk, uncertainty and unforeseeable change outside the control of the GENEART Group. Many factors may lead to actual results, which considerably deviate from the given projections for these results.
About GENEART AG: In 2000, GENEART entered the gene synthesis market and has since become the global market leader. Today, the company is one of the leading specialists in the Synthetic Biology field. Experts at GENEART provide key technologies for the development and production of new therapeutics and vaccines. Customers also take advantage of GENEART services to customize enzyme attributes, such as the attributes of enzymes used as detergent additives, and to construct bacteria, which produce complex biopolymers or break down polymers, such as synthetics, petroleum components, etc. Our production and service spectrum spans a wide range, from the production of synthetic genes according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000, to the creation of gene libraries in the combinatorial biology, to the development and production of DNA-based biologically active substances. GENEART AG in Regensburg (Germany) and the subsidiaries GENEART Inc. in Toronto (Canada) and GENEART Inc. in San Francisco (USA) employ more than 190 people. GENEART is listed on the German Stock Exchange.
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