Pfeiffer Vacuum Announces Results for the Full 2010 Fiscal Year

Given Pfeiffer Vacuum’s highly positive development of business, the Management and Supervisory Boards will propose that the previous years’ high dividend distribution ratio of around 75 percent of consolidated net income be retained. This will result in a proposed dividend of € 2.90 per share. Continuity is very important to the Management and Supervisory Boards; this does not manifest itself only in the form of in a stable dividend distribution ratio. Moreover, the Supervisory Board extended the term of office of Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender which was to have expired at year-end for a further five years.

Sales revenue growth came from all regions. Sales revenues in Germany, for example, improved by 2.3 percent year on year in 2010 to € 70.7 million (2009: € 69.1 million). The initial consolidation of new subsidiary Trinos Vakuum-Systeme as well as growth in the company’s core business is the reason for this development. Both compensated for a positive non-recurring effect from the year before stemming from a major contract from the solar industry. At the international level, sales revenues grew at a double-digit pace. In the other countries of Europe, sales revenues of € 57.0 million were up 16.4 percent from the previous year (2009: € 49.0 million). New customers in the Analytical and Industrial market segments contributed to this rise. Sales in the USA, as well as Asia and the rest of the world, grew at a double-digit rate. In the USA, strong demand from the Semiconductor, Analytical and Industrial market segments, in particular, produced a 43.2-percent rise to € 53.4 million (2009: € 37.2 million). In Asia, it was Japan, China and Korea who led the list of successful countries for Pfeiffer Vacuum. Sales revenues from Asia and the rest of the world rose by 47.7 percent to € 39.4 million (2009: € 26.7 million).

In terms of the sales mix by markets, the Analytical market segment saw sales revenue growth of 40.5 percent to € 63.3 million (2009: € 45.1 million). The Industrial market segment posted a growth rate of 33.3 percent to € 48.6 million (2009: € 36.4 million). After a very good previous year, growth in the Research & Development market segment, too, did not falter in fiscal 2010 and totaled 23.0 percent, which represents sales revenues of € 42.9 million (2009: € 34.9 million). The above-mentioned non-recurring effect from the previous year which consisted of sales growth under a major contract from the solar industry and, as expected, was unable to be repeated in fiscal 2010 resulted in a sales revenue decline of 32.2 percent in the Coating segment to € 32.1 million (2009: € 47.3 million). Fueled by the strong recovery in the semiconductor industry worldwide, on the other hand, Pfeiffer Vacuum’s sales revenues in this market segment advanced by 121.9 percent to € 23.8 million (2009: € 10.7 million). The Chemical & Process Technology market segment grew by 29.0 percent to € 9.8 million (2009: € 7.6 million).

The good development of sales revenues, effects from the product mix and efficiency gains in production operations improved gross margin by 3.7 percentage points to 46.7 percent (2009: 43.0 percent). Consequently, gross profit for the past fiscal year stood at € 102.9 million, representing a 31.4-percent rise (2009: € 78.3 million). This development essentially led to a 40.1-percent increase in operating profit to € 52.9 million (2009: € 37.8 million). That corresponds to an EBIT margin of 24.0 percent for fiscal 2010 (2009: 20.8 percent).

With financial income of € 1.6 million (2009: € 0.7 million) and a higher tax ratio of 29.7 percent (2009: 27.9 percent) after-tax earnings totaled € 38.3 million. With a gain of 38.4 percent, this was the highest net result in Pfeiffer Vacuum’s history (2009: € 27.7 million). Earnings per share of € 4.40 were achieved (2009: € 3.24). The growth rate of 35.8 percent was down moderately from that of net income. This was attributable to the fact that the average number of shares in circulation has to be taken into consideration in calculating earnings per share. As a result of the 10-percent increase of capital and the sale of treasury shares (5.1 percent of former capital stock) in November 2010, this value was up slightly from the year before.

As at December 31, 2010, Pfeiffer Vacuum’s cash and cash equivalents totaled € 85.0 million, up 37.1 percent from the previous year’s level of € 62.0 million. The reason for this consisted of various factors stemming from the acquisition of the adixen vacuum technology business unit from the Alcatel-Lucent group effective December 31, 2010. In this connection, the balance sheet total of € 472.7 million at the close of the past fiscal year nearly tripled from its level of € 159.1 million as at December 31, 2009. While this nearly doubled equity capital to € 270.0 million as of December 31, 2010 by comparison with the year before (€ 138.3 million), the equity ratio decreased from 87.0 percent to 57.1 percent.

Pfeiffer Vacuum Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender comments as follows: “The 2010 fiscal year was one of the most significant in the history of Pfeiffer Vacuum. Our plans to sell the products of subsidiary Trinos, which was acquired at the outset of 2010, through our distribution network without any major additional effort came to fruition. On the heels of the global economic crisis the year before, our core business posted unbelievable development which manifested itself in particular in outstanding profitability. And at the end of the year, we acquired what had formerly been our strongest competitor, adixen, thus more than doubling ourselves.” Manfred Bender adds: “the first steps in the integration of adixen as well as new orders in the first two months of 2011 give us every reason to be optimistic that the development of our business will not be disappointing this year.”