After nine months 2017/18, Carl Zeiss Meditec was able to achieve further encouraging growth in all strategic business units and regions.
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Revenue increased by 7.1 percent (adjusted for currency effects, 11.7 percent), to €926.3m (prior year: €864.7m). Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose slightly, to €134.8m (prior year: €132.6m).
The adjusted EBIT margin remained stable at 14.8 percent (prior year: 14.7 percent). Earnings per share reached €0.92 (prior year: €1.10).
Revenue in the EMEA region increased by 8.6 percent (adjusted for currency effects: 10.0 percent) to almost €282.0m (prior year: €259.6m). This increase was attributable to the stable development in the core markets Germany and France, and to solid growth in the UK and Southern Europe.
On a currency adjusted basis, revenue in the Americas region grew by 11.7 percent to €279.3m (prior year: €272.5m). Due to negative currency effects, reported revenue only grew slightly by 2.5 percent year-on-year. The positive trend in the US market continued.
The Asia/Pacific region (APAC) grew by 9.7 percent, to €364.9m (prior year: €332.6m). After adjustment for currency effects, this corresponds to an increase of 13.0 percent. The largest contributions to growth came from China and South Korea.
Earnings per share declined to €0.92 (prior year: €1.10). It was, however, predominantly non-operating factors that contributed to this, specifically the one-time proceeds from the sale of non-strategic assets in the prior year, a negative currency result and the increase in the number of outstanding shares following the capital increase in March 2017.
Carl Zeiss Meditec confirms its revenue projections for fiscal year 2017/18 as published in the ad hoc disclosure dated 3 July 2018.
Revenue is expected to be within the range of €1,250m – €1,300m (previously: €1,230m – €1,280m). The EBIT margin is expected to remain within the range of 14 percent to 16 percent on an adjusted basis. ■