MAY 14--LINOS AG (Göttingen, Germany; www.linos.de) generated revenues of EUR 18.5 million in the first quarter of 2003. This represents an increase of 4.4% in comparison with the same quarter the previous year (EUR 17.7 million) and growth of as much as 10.9% over the final quarter of 2002 (EUR 16.7 million). The operating result (minus EUR 0.8 million) was better than in the same quarter the previous year (minus EUR 2.7 million) in spite of non-recurring charges of EUR 0.5 million.
LINOS succeeded in recording a disproportionately large growth to EUR 46.1 million in order intake thanks to a major order from Turkey worth EUR 30.6 million. This means that order intake increased for the sixth quarter in succession. If only the revenue from this major order that will be achieved in 2003 is taken into account, then the order volume in the period under review was at the same high level as in the previous quarters at EUR 19.3 million.
"As the current quarterly figures show, we have made good progress," said Gerd Litfin, chief executive officer of LINOS AG. Litfin explains that the reorganization program had been completed to a large extent, while the exploitation of cost benefits and the cutting of overheads were leading to savings. The company was also being increasingly successful at compensating for the revenue shortfalls in the cyclical telecommunications and semiconductor markets by obtaining revenues in other market segments. A definite recovery was, for example, being felt in such areas as metrology and lasers. LINOS is in addition intensifying its sales activities, as the successful start made by LINOS Photonics SARL in Lyons demonstrates.
