REGENSBURG, GERMANY--(Marketwire - April 30, 2009) -
- Consolidated net sales increase by 27.5 % to EUR 15.7M in 2008
- EBIT reaches EUR 0.8M after EUR 1.8M in the previous year
- Operating cash flow increases to EUR 2.8M (previous year: EUR -0.9M)
- Expectations for current fiscal year 2009: GENEART assumes at least constant net sales despite uncertain market environment
Regensburg, April 30, 2009 - GENEART AG, global leader in gene synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, confirms its preliminary numbers for 2008 published in March. Net sales increased by 27.5 % over the previous year to EUR 15.7M. EBIT reached EUR 0.8M after EUR 1.8M in the previous year. GENEART shows earnings before taxes (EBT) of EUR 1.1M, compared to EUR 2.2M in 2007. The operating cash flow increased to EUR 2.8M (previous year: EUR -0.9M).
The year 2008 unfolded inconsistently for the company. Solid results during the first nine months were followed by a difficult 4th Quarter, which was characterized by the current economic environment. This development has operlapped the important milestones that GENEART reached with respect to its technological and operative advancements in 2008. In that regard, production costs were again reduced significantly due to improvements in the areas of automation and process development, and cost leadership was extended. In addition, GENEART technology proved its capabilities in cooperations with i.e. NIH (U.S. American National Institutes of Health), Morphosys and QIAGEN. In particular, GENEART was able to compensate for the completion of the largest order in company history, which was placed by the NIH and completed in the 3rd quarter 2008, and which had substantial impact on the business development for about 18 months, by a large number of smaller individual orders.
The current market development, however, is heavily affected by the caution of the pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical industries in placing major contracts and by increasingly short-term ordering characteristics. Considering these market conditions, which are heavily affected by the economic development, and the current order situation, GENEART expects net sales of at least EUR 16M to be at previous year's level for 2009. The 2009 profit situation will be affected by increased fixed costs associated with production automation and by an extraordinary effect due to an increase in price for the chemical acetonitrile, which has already affected material costs in the 4th Quarter of 2008. The project of substituting acetonitrile progresses as planned, and production is gradually shifted, such that the material cost quota will return to its normal level from mid 2009. If the anticipated minimal catch-up effects occur as of mid-year after a difficult first half of the year, GENEART expects an increase of net sales to between EUR 17M to EUR 18M and an overall positive EBIT for 2009.
Detailed information can be obtained from the Annual Report 2008. This report can be found on the company's website at www.geneart.com.
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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GENEART AG Publishes Consolidated Financial Statements 2008: http://hugin.info/136633/R/1309990/302794.pdf
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