Berlin, 12 May 2020. Despite heavy burdens from corona and the drop in oil prices, Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ISIN DE0005659700, TecDAX), a specialist for isotope applications in medicine, science and industry, completed the first quarter of 2020 roughly at the same level as last year. While sales increased by around 2% to 44 mm EUR million, net income came in at 0.98 EUR per share, some 14% or 16 Cent down from previous year’s quarter.
The main reason for the relatively steady performance was the continued strong growth, compared to the previous year, in sales and earnings from radiopharmaceutical products and services in the Medical segment. While sales revenues here increased by 26% or EUR 4.2 million to just under EUR 21 million, the segment's net profit even rose by 28% to EUR 3.5 million or EUR 0.62 per share.
In contrast, sales and earnings in the industrial components business retrenched as expected. While in the previous year the Isotope Products segment was able to contribute EUR 0.59 per share to earnings, it only achieved a net income of EUR 1.3 million or EUR 0.26 per share in the first quarter of 2020. The most significant factor for the decrease were currency losses of about EUR 1 million or minus EUR 0.19 per share, which had to be posted at the end of March due to the devaluation of the Brazilian real. In February, the exchange rate of the Latin American country had collapsed by around 20% against the euro in the course of the Corona pandemic. The quarterly result of the Isotope Products segment was also negatively impacted by a 12% year-on-year decline in sales to EUR 24 million, reflecting the recent drop in oil prices and, as expected, a related slump in demand for measurement technology components.
The Management Board expects the results of the first quarter to mark a bottom, which should roughly characterize the second quarter. It therefore confirms its earnings forecast of EUR 3.50 per share for the full year 2020 and the dividend recommendation of EUR 1.70 per share, which will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting on June 10, 2020.
The complete financial statements can be viewed here:
http://www.ezag.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ezag/investors-financial-reports/englisch/euz120e.pdf
About Eckert & Ziegler.
Eckert & Ziegler Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG with more than 800 employees, is one of the world's largest providers of isotope-related components for radiation therapy and nuclear medicine. Eckert & Ziegler shares (ISIN DE0005659700) are listed in the TecDAX index of Deutsche Börse.
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Contact:
Eckert & Ziegler AG, Karolin Riehle, Investor Relations
Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0) 30 / 94 10 84-138, karolin.riehle@ezag.de, www.ezag.com