DGAP-News: LPKF Laser & Electronics Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Quarterly / Interim Statement New CEO sees great growth potential for LPKF 15.05.2018 / 08:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garbsen, 15 May 2018 - After serving exactly two weeks as the new CEO of LPKF Laser & Electronics AG, Goetz M. Bendele explains the focus of his agenda for the laser machine manufacturer in the company's Quarterly Financial Report. The physicist regards LPKF as a technology company with extraordinary potential. "My takeaway from initial discussions with our customers and partners is that LPKF's degree of influence on technical progress in a number of high tech areas is well in excess of our company size. Together with our employees, it is now my task to ensure that we realize this potential in full," says Bendele. He wants to develop the laser specialist more in the direction of a technology start-up and use the resulting agility to react even faster and more directly to customer needs. Despite the restrained start in the first three months of the current financial year, Bendele is optimistic about the future: "If we do our homework on the cost and asset side and successfully leverage our technologies and our employees' knowledge to help shape our customers' future, we will once again become a sustainably profitable, leading high tech company". LPKF reports a success in the field of their newly developed LIDE technology (Laser Induced Deep Etching): At the beginning of May, the company has received an order for a Vitrion system from a customer in the semiconductor industry for an advanced packaging application. With LIDE, LPKF is launching a completely new basic technology for the microsystems industry. With the LIDE process, electronics manufacturers can process ultra-thin glass into complex structures for mass production, both economically and with high precision. New technologies such as the LIDE process are expected to make a significant contribution to the company's sales and earnings growth in the coming years. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the LPKF Group's revenue reached EUR 19.7 million and was thus 20 % below the previous year's figure of EUR 24.5 million. While revenue in the Solar segment was 80 % higher than in the prior year, revenue in the other segments has declined. Incoming orders and orders on hand show a more positive development: at EUR 29.0 million, incoming orders were at the prior year's level; orders on hand as of 31 March 2018 were EUR 47.9 million, or 48% above the prior year's level. Revenue in the first quarter was too low to generate a positive EBIT: There were losses (EBIT) of EUR 2.3 million for the quarter, compared to an EBIT of EUR 0.1 million in the prior year's quarter, which had a higher revenue. In assessing the quarterly figures, the Management Board points out that LPKF's revenue in the first quarter is often weaker; for the first quarter of 2018, comparatively lower incoming orders during the fourth quarter of 2017 were an early indication. Based on the already higher incoming orders and orders on hand, the Management Board expects business to develop as forecast for 2018: if the global economy remains stable, the Management Board anticipates consolidated revenue of between EUR 103 million and EUR 108 million and a return on capital employed (ROCE) of between 2% and 7% in 2018. An EBIT margin of up to 6% is expected. LPKF is aiming to achieve a ROCE of between 10% and 15% by 2020. The full quarterly report is available in German and English at www.lpkf.com/investor-relations/news-publications/financial-reports/index.htm. The Annual General Meeting of LPKF Laser & Electronics AG will be held at Hanover Congress Centrum on May 31. About LPKF LPKF Laser & Electronics AG specializes in the production of laser systems for micro material processing and is a global leader in several areas. Founded in 1976, the company is headquartered in Garbsen near Hanover and operates worldwide via subsidiaries and representative offices. The shares of LPKF Laser & Electronics AG are traded in the Prime Standard segment of Deutsche Börse (ISIN 0006450000). Contact: Bettina Schäfer, Department Manager Group Communication & Investor Relations --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.05.2018 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: LPKF Laser & Electronics Aktiengesellschaft Osteriede 7 30827 Garbsen Germany Phone: +49 (0) 5131 7095-0 Fax: +49 (0) 5131 7095-95 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.lpkf.com ISIN: DE0006450000 WKN: 645000 Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange End of News DGAP News Service --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 685563 15.05.2018