H1 2017

Tecan with significant increase in order entry and strong sales growth in the Life Sciences Business - Seite 2

Tecan CEO David Martyr commented: "Tecan's sales have developed well, once again, in the current financial year. The strong growth in our end-customer business, the Life Sciences Business, and in the components business, as part of the Partnering Business, was particularly pleasing. In China we continued to achieve high growth rates in both business segments. We were also able to considerably improve our net profit despite the inclusion of acquisition-related integration costs. Overall, the performance is fully in line with our expectations."

Financial results for the first half of 2017

Order entry increased by 16.7% in local currencies to CHF 291.2 million in the first six months of the year (H1 2016: CHF 250.6 million), corresponding to a growth of 16.2% in Swiss francs. Both business segments contributed with double-digit growth rates. On an organic basis, excluding the new companies SPEware (now Tecan SP, Inc.) and Pulssar Technologies S.A.S., orders in the first half rose by 12.5% in local currencies and by 12.0% in Swiss francs. SPEware has been consolidated in the financial statements of the Tecan Group since October 2016; Pulssar since March 2017 part of the Group, also making a small contribution in the period under review. Due to strong order entry, which exceeded sales considerably, the order backlog grew as of June 30, 2017.

Sales climbed by 8.0% in local currencies or 7.7% in Swiss francs to CHF 253.3 million in the first half of the year (H1 2016: CHF 235.3 million). This corresponds to organic growth of 3.4% in local currencies and 3.1% in Swiss francs year-on-year. In the first half of 2016, the Partnering Business benefited from a positive one-time effect as a corporate customer placed the last major order for a phasing-out platform. The Life Sciences Business again posted strong growth and was more than able to offset this effect.

The operating profit before depreciation and amortization (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; EBITDA) rose by 8.8% to CHF 41.3 million in the reporting period (H1 2016: CHF 37.9 million).  The EBITDA margin improved to 16.3% of sales (H1 2016: 16.1%) including integration costs associated with acquisitions. The slight improvement in margin, which was already achieved in the first six months of the year, was driven by positive volume and price effects as well as efficiency improvements in operations and in research and development.