· Sales at € 79.6 million (+30.5%; previous year: € 61.0 million)

· EBIT at € 14.7 million (+31.1%; previous year: € 11.2 million)

· Consolidated net income at € 11.7 million (+42.7%; previous year: € 8.2 million*)

· At € 1.03, earnings per share exceed € 1 for first time (+43.1%; previous year: € 0.72*)

· Dividend proposal increased to € 0.45 per share (+28.6%; previous year: € 0.35)

 

* Excluding a non-operating one-off expense of Euro 2.1 million due to a valuation adjustment in 2008. Including this expense, “Consolidated net income” in 2008 amounts to Euro 6.1 million and “Earnings per share” to Euro 0.54.

 

Birkenfeld, April 13, 2010

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG, Birkenfeld, Germany (Frankfurt: SBS; Prime Standard) has today announced its confirmed results for the financial year ending on December 31, 2009, and the publication of its 2009 Annual Report. These results are published in accordance with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), have been audited and have been granted an unqualified audit opinion.

Financial report
Sales increased by 30.5% from € 61.0 million to € 79.6 million in the 2009 financial year, and were therefore above the upper end of the guidance range forecast by the company (€ 73.2 million to € 79.3 million).
At € 14.7 million, the EBIT generated by STRATEC in 2009 was 31.1% higher than the previous year’s figure (€ 11.2 million). Despite having four development projects simultaneously in the ramp-up phase towards serial production for the first time in its history, STRATEC was able to increase its EBIT margin to 18.5% in 2009 (previous year: 18.4%). The company’s guidance range for the EBIT margin was 18.5% to 19.5%.
Consolidated net income, which benefited from positive net financial expenses and a reduction in the Group’s average tax rate, amounted to € 11.7 million, against € 8.2 million* in the previous year. Consolidated net income thus improved by 42.7%. Divided by the weighted average number of shares in circulation in 2009, earnings per share (EPS) amounted to € 1.03 (previous year: € 0.72*).
STRATEC further increased its holdings of liquid funds to € 21.2 million (previous year: € 19.2 million), with an equity ratio of 69.1% (previous year: 71.3%).

Dividend proposal
Given its confidence in the expected future business performance of the STRATEC Group, the company’s high volume of liquidity and high equity ratio, the Supervisory Board and Board of Management of STRATEC will be proposing the distribution to shareholders of a dividend of € 0.45 per share (previous year: € 0.35) with dividend entitlement for approval by the Annual General Meeting on May 21, 2010. Subject to approval by the Annual General Meeting, this would correspond to a total distribution of € 5.1 million (previous year: € 4.0 million).

Personnel development
The company’s positive performance and its preparations for the next round of growth are already reflected in the increased size of its workforce. Including temporary employees, STRATEC had a total of 380 employees by the end of 2009 (previous year: 284). One particular factor driving this development was the acquisition of Invitek GmbH, Berlin, in April 2009, which together with its total of around 30 employees has been fully integrated in the STRATEC Group.

Other highlights in the 2009 financial year
In 2009 the company returned to its customary strong rate of growth as seen in the years 2000 to 2007.
Alongside substantial sales and earnings growth, the key developments in the 2009 financial year were the market launch preparations being made by our customers of a total of four new analyzer systems. For two of these analyzer systems, the serial production preparation phase had been completed by the end of 2009, and the other two analyzer systems were in the final stages of preparations.
Beyond the strong turnover in STRATEC’s core business of analyzer systems, key factors driving the Group’s sales growth included higher numbers of pre-serial systems and an expected increase in the sales of consumables and replacement parts.
“The greatest challenge we faced when implementing our current strategic corporate plan was how to handle considerable expansion in production output while at the same time significantly boosting our development activities. Our results presented today are clear evidence that we mastered this challenge in 2009” commented Hermann Leistner, Chairman of the Board of Management of STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG.
STRATEC signed a further development agreement for a fully automated molecular diagnostic system, and while the company now allocates more than 55% of its development capacities to this area, the share of sales generated with these applications only amounts to less than 10% of the consolidated figure in 2009. These figures clearly show that the automation of molecular biological applications is set to become a significant driver of future value at STRATEC.

Guidance and further outlook confirmed
In the 2010 financial year STRATEC expects to generate sales in a range of € 96 million to € 102 million. Growth in the EBIT margin will be driven by the serial production of four major development projects and an increasing share of sales generated from consumables and replacement parts. STRATEC expects the EBIT margin to rise by at least 0.5% points compared to the 2009 figure.
Based on stable developments in all current programs, as well as the prospects and customer forecasts for the new programs, STRATEC expects to achieve consistent growth in the coming years. Specifically, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 15% is expected for sales between 2010 and 2012.

2009 Annual Report
The 2009 Annual Report of STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG is available for viewing and downloading of the company’s internet site at www.stratec-biomedical.de > Investor Relations > IR News > Financial Reports.

Forthcoming publication dates
The interim report as of March 31, 2010 will be published on April 28, 2010.
The Annual General Meeting of STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG will be held in Pforzheim on Friday, May 21, 2010. The invitation to the Annual General Meeting will be forwarded to STRATEC shareholders via their depositing banks in good time ahead of the Annual General Meeting.

About STRATEC

STRATEC Biomedical AG (www.stratec.com) designs and manufactures fully automated analyzer systems for its partners in the fields of clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. These partners market such systems, in general together with their own reagents, to laboratories, blood banks and research institutes around the world. The company develops its products on the basis of its own patented technologies. Shares in the company (ISIN: DE0007289001) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and are a constituent of the Deutsche Börse TecDAX.

The STRATEC Group consists of the publicly listed parent company STRATEC Biomedical AG and of subsidiaries and second-tier subsidiaries in Germany, the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Romania.

 

Further information can be obtained from:

STRATEC Biomedical AG
André Loy, Investor Relations
Gewerbestr. 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Phone: +49 7082 7916 190
Fax: +49 7082 7916 999
Email:ir(at)stratec.com