Schweizer's EBIT before special effects increases by 14.9%

Sales with innovative technology products grew disproportionally by 24.8% to 30.2 million Euro, thus forming the basis of this success. The EBIT before special effects amounts to 5.4 million Euro, corresponding to a margin of 9.0% (previous year 8.5%). One-time personnel expenses and exceptional charges related to currency fluctuations in the division Electronic however, reduced the EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) to 3.7 million Euro, which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 6.2%. (EBIT 2014: 4.7 million Euro). The company’s financing structure again remains on a high and solid level. At the end of the first half-year 2015 the equity ratio was 59.8% compared to 55.8% at the end of previous year’s period. Due to the continuously critical overall situation on the photovoltaics market, Schweizer Electronic AG decided to withdraw from its business field energy. This business field had been established for manufacturing photovoltaic cells and modules. The PCB (printed circuit board) business with power inverters for the solar industry remains untouched by this decision. Schweizer's turnover growth is due to an increase of output from the Schramberg production plant as well as from its Asian partner network. The turnover achieved through the plant in Schramberg rose by 6.1% to another high of 53.7 million Euro, while sales related to the Asian partner network jumped by 31.9% to 6.2 million Euro. Germany still is Schweizer's biggest market with a turnover share of 61.4%. Other regions, however, also developed favourably - in particular America, where business doubled to 5.7 million Euro, accounting for almost 10% of total sales now. “We are very happy with the business development during the first six months of this fiscal year,” says Dr. Maren Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG. “Besides the stable automotive business, order income rose in particular in the industry and communication sectors. Our additional production capacities in Asia are undergoing the last phase of their customer qualification process, meaning we will be able to access further capacities for