Pfeiffer Vacuum has announced its full, audited results for the 2006 fiscal year. All sales and profitability numbers were able to be significantly increased. The proposed dividend is at a record level of euro 2.50 per share. At the financial press conference, the Management Board will offer up a positive outlook for the year.
During the past fiscal year, the company grew its sales by 12.5 percent. This increase significantly outpaced the vacuum industry's average market growth of 4 percent. The improvements in profitability were even higher, with operating profit rising by 23.4 percent from euro 36.4 million to euro 45.0 million. An EBIT margin of 25.0 percent is virtually unrivaled anywhere in the vacuum or other comparable industries. This record mark was achieved as a result of higher sales, stricter cost management and productivity gains.
Somewhat higher interest income by comparison with the year before was offset by exchange rate losses due to the weakness of the US dollar. Together with an over three percentage-point more favorable tax rate, this produced after-tax income of euro 29.8 million, representing an increase of 29.4 percent over the year before. This is the best result in the company's history. Earnings per share advanced from euro 2.64 to euro 3.39, and are thus considerably higher than the consensus estimates.
Liquid assets rose by 22.2 percent during the year under review, from euro 61.7 million to euro 75.4 million. At the Annual Shareholders Meeting, the Management and Supervisory Boards will propose that the dividend be significantly increased over the year before to euro 2.50 per share (2005: euro 1.35). This means that around three quarters of Pfeiffer Vacuum's net income will be distributed to its shareholders. The company is thus reiterating statements from the year before calling for its shareholders to participate significantly in the company's success if no other alternatives in the form of suitable acquisitions present themselves.
New orders were up sharply in the months of January and February, prompting cautious optimism with respect to the full 2007 fiscal year. Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Dondorf comments: "We are very proud of the results we have announced, which were only able to be achieved through the joint efforts of everyone involved throughout the world. An after-tax return on sales of 16.6 percent is remarkable for a mechanical engineering company that manufactures exclusively in Germany. With this record year, we have set the bar high for the future.
"During the current fiscal year, we have been able to record high levels of new orders from all markets and regions. Far in excess of 50 percent of these orders relate to turbopumps, our most important and highest-margin success product. These orders are predominantly coming from customers in the analytical environment, the coating sector and the semiconductor industry, and from the United States, Germany and Asia on a regional basis."
