ISRA Vision confirms forecasts for 2007-2008 financial year
DECEMBER 16, 2008--ISRA Vision (Darmstadt, Germany; www.isravision.com), a supplier of surface inspection and image-processing systems, reports that it has met all of its targets for revenue and earnings for the 2007/2008 financial year (ended Sept. 30), surpassing them. Group revenue from the preliminary annual financial statement (which has been audited but not yet certified) increased by 33% to EUR 68.3 million. The total output (revenue plus capitalized development) increased by 30% to EUR 76.3 million. Gross margin remained steady at 58% of the total output; relative to the revenue, this margin increased by 1% to 52%.
ISRA has now completed the integration of its acquisitions and attributes this to some of its earnings increases. The EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) rose by 70% to EUR 18.6 million. The EBITDA margin grew by five percentage points to 24% of the total output and 27% of revenue. The EBIT (profit before interest and taxes) more than doubled, increasing to EUR 12.9 million. The EBIT margin increased by seven percentage points to 17% of total output and 19% of revenue. As forecasted by the management in the previous year, the other major performance indicator for strategic profitability planning -- EBT (earnings before taxes) -- increased by 79% to EUR 11.3 million. The EBT margin thus grew by four percentage points to 15% of total output and 17% of revenue.
Net profit reached EUR 8.0 million (previous year: EUR 5.5 million). Earnings per share totaled EUR 1.76. At present share prices of around EUR 6.30, ISRA says it is currently valued at 3.6 times the net profit. One euro of revenue from the company now costs EUR 0.40 on the stock exchange (revenue to market capitalization). At EUR 27 million, the market capitalization from ISRA is around two-thirds less than the EUR 75.7 million equity on the balance sheet.
In the group, ISRA has an equity ratio of 51%. Liquid assets of EUR 12.5 million increased in 4Q by EUR 0.6 million. The operative cash flow totaled EUR 6.4 million. According to the company, the long-term financing of its acquisitions had already been secured by bank loans with cost-efficient conditions; it also has free financing options of around EUR 20 million. All balance sheet assets have been analyzed using impairment tests and have been regularly adjusted to match their current value. There were no namable depreciations in the 2007-2008 financial year.
In the 2007-2008 financial year, ISRA saw total output increase by 37% to EUR 58.3 million, and EBIT increased by more than 150% to EUR 9.9 million. The company grew in the division of industrial automation with a 12% increase in total output to EUR 18.0 million. EBIT rose by 36% to EUR 3.0 million; ISRA thus achieved an EBIT margin of 17% in both sectors.
With an order backlog of more than EUR 34 million, ISRA intends to analyze all relevant markets and release a detailed revenue forecast for the current financial year in February 2009. In view of current market trends, management expects a moderate increase in revenue for the 2008-2009 financial year, provided the market environment does not suffer any additional setbacks.