EANS-News: LPKF sets course for further growth and establishes "Operations"
Management Board department
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Annual & Special Corporate Meetings
Garbsen (euro adhoc) - Annual General Meeting resolves on dividend and appoints
new Supervisory Board member
Garbsen, 31 May 2012 - Garbsen-based specialty mechanical engineering company
LPKF Laser & Electronics AG today announced that its shareholders clearly voted
in favor of the direction taken by the Company's management and approved all
items on the agenda at the Annual General Meeting on 31 May 2012. LPKF AG allows
its shareholders to participate in the Company's profits with a dividend of EUR
0.40 per share and intends to continue paying them between 30 percent and 50
percent of the profit per share in future years.
In financial year 2011, with revenue of EUR 91.1 million (+12 percent), the
laser specialist posted an EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margin of
17 percent, which is at the top end of the forecast range.
In view of the positive development of its business, management is currently
focusing on aligning its internal structures toward further growth. "In 2011, we
created the general conditions for further growth with our historically high
infrastructure investment program, and now we are focusing more intensively on
the further development of our organization," commented Dr. Ingo Bretthauer,
Chief Executive Officer of LPKF. With the help of an external consultant, the
Supervisory Board and the Management Board analyzed the structures of the
Company and evaluated the initial results. The Supervisory Board has already
taken a strategic step by setting up a fourth Management Board department called
"Operations" that will combine production, purchasing, and logistics in
particular from July 2012. This department aims to make greater use of and push
synergies at Group level. The new Management Board position will be filled
shortly.
Changes were also made in the Supervisory Board, with Bernd Hackmann being
elected as its new member. The graduate engineer held the post of Chairman of
the Management Board of LPKF AG until 2008 and has since worked as a consultant
for technology companies. Bernd Hildebrandt, co-founder and major shareholder of
LPKF, stepped down from the Supervisory Board. Following the establishment of
LPKF Laser & Electronics AG, he had managed the Company for 24 years as its
General Manager and later as CEO.
Bernd Hildebrandt had acted as Chairman of LPKF's Supervisory Board for the last
eleven years. The 65-year-old is retiring from the successfully expanding
Company for personal reasons. Over the coming years he plans to dedicate more
time to his foundation, "Tier-hilft-Mensch" (Animal-Help-Human). The Management
Board and the Supervisory Board thanked Bernd Hildebrandt for his work in recent
years and wished Bernd Hackmann every success in his new field of work. Acting
on the Supervisory Board's suggestion, the former Deputy Chairman of the
Supervisory Board, Dr. Heino Büsching, will now run for the position of
Supervisory Board chairman.
About LPKF
LPKF Laser & Electronics AG specializes in the production of laser systems for
micro material processing, a field in which it is the world leader in several
sectors. Founded in 1976, the Group has its headquarters in Garbsen near
Hannover in Germany and does business around the world together with its
subsidiaries and representatives. LPKF has around 617 employees globally. The
shares in LPKF Laser & Electronics AG are traded on the Prime Standard of the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN 0006450000).
Further inquiry note:
LPKF Laser & Electronics AG
Bettina Schäfer, Investor Relations Manager (CIRO)
Tel: (05131) 7095-1382
end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: LPKF Laser & Electronics AG
Osteriede 7
D-30827 Garbsen
phone: +49(0)5131 7095 1382
FAX: +49(0)5131 7095 90
mail: investorrelations@lpkf.com
WWW: http://www.lpkf.de
sector: Semiconductors & active components
ISIN: DE0006450000
indexes: CDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share
stockmarkets: free trade: Hannover, Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf,
Stuttgart, regulated dealing/prime standard: Frankfurt
language: English