AUGUST 27, 2007--ISRA Vision (Darmstadt, Germany; www.isravision.com), a supplier of industrial image-processing systems, is now focusing more closely on external expansion in its development of profitable, high-growth market segments. An important step in this direction is the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Parsytec. In tandem with Parsytec (www.parsytec.de), ISRA intends to achieve profitable growth, particularly in the metals and paper markets.
The traditional increase in the incoming-orders trend in the second half of the fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) has thus far only manifested itself in the industrial-automation business division, where sales increased by almost 20%. Incoming orders have continued to slow in the largest business division, surface vision: sales in some segments experienced a noticeable downturn. During preparations for the acquisition of Parsytec, ISRA invested late in some segments in strengthening sales staff.
Overall, preliminary figures show that total operating revenue in the ISRA group in the first nine months of FY2006/2007 stagnated at €36.8 million (previous year: €36.7 million) and net sales at €32.3 million (previous year: €33.0 million). At the same time, the gross profit margin (total operating revenue minus production costs in relation to total operating revenue) remained stable at 58%. Sales and marketing expenditures increased by 11% to €5.4 million as a result of creating new sales teams and strengthening existing ones and expanding marketing. Earnings before taxes thus decreased to €4.5 million (previous year: €6.5 million).
The majority shareholding in Parsytec is a major step in ISRA's growth strategy, which aims to increase sales in the group to more than €100 million by 2011. Integration of Parsytec into the ISRA group lies at the heart of this strategy. Parsytec has a strong market position and a product range that ideally complements ISRA's offerings. The combined range of products will make the metal and paper business units even stronger and enable them to extend their share of the market faster and more efficiently.