IPTE: Sales down to €41.8 million in 3Q/2009

Operating results in the 3Q/2009 showed a loss of €2.9 million, compared with a profit of €193,000 million during the same quarter in 2008. The net result amounted to a loss of €3 million over the reporting period, compared to €203,000 profit in the preceding year. Orders at the end of the 3Q/2009 rose to €69.0 million, against €66.2 million at the end of the 2nd quarter. The quarter saw sales of the Automation division drop to €14.3 million, down from the 2008 figure of €15.2 million. Orders declined from €15.5 million at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2009 to €12.2 million at the end of the 3rd quarter. Sales of the Contract Manufacturing division declined from €35.7 million in 2008 to €27.5 million in 2009. Orders for the division rose to €56.8 million, compared to €50.7 million at the end of the 2nd quarter. €450,000 in restructuring costs were booked during the 3rd quarter (€1.3 million for the first half of the year). Booked restructuring costs thus total €1,750,000 on a YTD basis. Further measures were taken to reduce headcount from 2,016 FTEs at the end of the 2nd quarter to 1,855 FTEs at the end of the 3rd quarter (current status: Automation division: 435 FTEs; Contract Manufacturing division: 1,420 FTEs). Contract Manufacturing division Contract Manufacturing orders are up for the first time this year, at €56 million, against €50 million at the end of the 2nd quarter. "We believe that the decline in sales has bottomed out in the third quarter, with contract manufacturing business slowly starting to recover", the fiscal report states. Following the restructuring measures conducted in the past quarters, during which production was adapted to current market volumes, fourth quarter business is expected to deliver an improvement in results. Automation division Though orders in the Automation division held up well during the first half, there was a sharp drop in the 3rd quarter, with orders at the end of the quarter reaching an all-time low of €12.2 million. During the first 5 weeks of the fourth quarter order intake has picked up sharply, getting back to first half year levels. The Board has identified all possible options and will come to a decision in the coming months about the structural measures to be taken to improve the automation business.