ZEISS asserts its position in difficult environment

• Revenue increased to EUR 4.287 billion
• EBIT reaches EUR 360 million mark
• Cautious outlook for fiscal year 2014/15
  

The ZEISS Group generates most of its revenue outside Germany. In fiscal year 2013/14 ZEISS was particularly successful in the Asia/Pacific (APAC) region with revenue totaling EUR 830 million, corresponding to an increase of ten percent over the previous year (prior year: EUR 796 million) after currency adjustments. In Germany revenue amounted to EUR 514 million, the same level as the previous year (EUR 512 million).

To consolidate and expand its position as a technology leader in the different industries, ZEISS is continuing to focus strongly on research and development. In fiscal year 2013/14 the company increased its expenditure in this area by eight percent over the previous year to EUR 448 million (last year*: EUR 414 million).

ZEISS invested a total of EUR 188 million in property, plant and equipment during fiscal year 2013/14 (last year: EUR 245 million). This compared to depreciations totaling EUR 152 million (last year: EUR141 million). Gross liquidity totaled EUR 590 million (30 September 2013: EUR 681 million). "Despite a high level of investment, acquisitions and clearly discernible negative currency effects, the company's financial position is extremely solid," stated Thomas Spitzenpfeil, CFO of Carl Zeiss AG.

Free cash flow amounted to EUR 275 million (last year: EUR 258 million). The company's equity amounted to over one billion euros, equating to an equity ratio of around 25 percent.

Fiscal year 2013/14 saw a slight increase in the company's headcount: 24,817 employees were working for ZEISS as of 30 September 2014. This was an increase of just under 200 over last year (24,623).

In the first six months, 24,791 employees worked for ZEISS worldwide (31 March 2013: 24,803). In Germany, the number of employees increased by around 70 to 10,809 (31 March 2013: 10,739). As of the half-year reporting date, ZEISS employed around
430 trainees (31 March 2013: around 400).

For fiscal year 2014/15, ZEISS expects moderate global growth with regional variations. The stagnation or slowdown currently emerging in the world economy poses new challenges to the company. "Fiscal year 2014/15 will not be an easy one. Nevertheless, we expect an overall stable development in revenue and an EBIT margin comparable to that in 2013/14," said Kaschke. "We will reach this ambitious goal because we will continue to improve our productivity and efficiency and, at the same time, spare no effort to focus even more sharply on the needs of our customers."

^{1 Adapted due to changes of IAS 19}