During the 2010/11 year under review ending 30 April, the Infranor Group, a specialist in robotised automation, more than doubled its EBIT, from CHF 2.0 million during the previous financial year to CHF 4.9 million, and recorded sales growth of more than 26 per cent, to CHF 49.3 million (CHF 39.0 million). For the current year under review, Infranor is aiming to increase its sales by approximately 9 per cent to CHF 54.0 million and its post-tax net profit by 30 per cent to

CHF 2.4 million.

Sustained recovery during 2010/11

The strong demand from Asia, the need for replacement investment and the introduction on to the market of new technological solutions (developed in partnership with customers) enabled Infranor to make up much of the ground lost during the recession in the 2008/09 financial year. In terms of sales, the negative impact of the exchange rate for converting euro into Swiss francs masked this improvement to a certain degree.

In figures

At CHF 52.4 million, new orders not only exceeded the budgeted figure (+ 10.9 per cent) but also the figure recorded a year ago (CHF 41.8 million or + 25.4 per cent). This increase is largely due to the return to health of major customers, irrespective of their geographical location. At an exchange rate in Swiss francs equal to that on 30 April 2010, consolidated new orders would have equalled CHF 55.9 million (+ 33.7 per cent).

Consolidated sales reflected a comparable situation (CHF 49.3 million as against CHF 39.0 million as at 30 April 2010).

The surge in sales helped to increase the gross margin in absolute terms (CHF 28.9 million as against CHF 23.9 million the year before). Expressed in relative terms (58.7 per cent), the same margin fell noticeably compared to the figure recorded on 30 April 2010 (61.3 per cent). This decrease is explained on the one hand by the presence of major customers with a lower contribution margin and on the other by a greater share of direct sales from production companies.

At CHF 24.0 million, operating expenses were kept under control, despite increasing markedly on the figure of CHF 22.0 million recorded in the previous year. A key element in this trend was the need to recruit staff within the production entities in order to address the sustained growth in business.

The EBIT margin was increased to CHF 4.9 million and represented a 9.9 per cent share of sales. Compared to the previous year’s figure of 5.0 per cent, this share virtually doubled.

Despite the negative impact of the exchange rate between the euro and the Swiss franc (CHF -0.7 million), net profit after tax of CHF 1.9 million was recorded, surpassing the forecasts made during the financial year (CHF -0.2 million as at 30 April 2010).

A positive operating cash flow of CHF 3.4 million enabled the Infranor Group to renounce the deferral agreement entered into with Swiss banks in April 2009. It did this at the end of the year under review, which was nevertheless before the end of the agreement’s term.

Divisions return varied performance

The results achieved by both the Infranor Division (CHF 29.8 million as against CHF 23.8 million as at 30 April 2010) and the Cybelec Division (CHF 19.4 million as against CHF 15.3 million a year ago) were convincing. Some of the individual increases were considerable compared to sales for the previous year; these were mainly at the development and production companies (between 50 and 70 per cent) but also sales and engineering companies (in particular in China, Germany, and Switzerland).

Proposal for profit distribution

The result of the 2010/11 year under review confirms the recovery efforts of the Infranor Group. The Board proposes to distribute a dividend of CHF 0.50 per bearer share given the positive trend in Group business.

Outlook

The year 2011/12 began as expected, bolstered by orders on hand of CHF 10.4 million (CHF 8.9 million as at beginning of 2010/11). The rate of new orders remained high, outstripping that of sales. This is proof of the strength of the machine automation market, with market players now planning their orders over the longer term. Infranor’s European and Asian clients, but also increasingly its Indian and Brazilian clients, all display a certain degree of optimism, which is set to last until the end of the 2010 calendar year at least.

The Infranor Group is continuing its transformation into a provider of automation systems and products which are outside of the traditional fields of industrial production.

In view of the above, the Infranor Group anticipates sales of CHF 53.7 million for the 2011/12 financial year, an increase of 9 per cent compared to the past year. The EBIT margin is expected to exceed 9 per cent of total sales and the consolidated profit after tax should be around CHF 2.5 million.