EANS-News: LPKF sets course for further growth and establishes "Operations" Management Board department
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate news transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer/originator is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
Original content of: LPKF Laser & Electronics AG, transmitted by news aktuell