Carl Zeiss Meditec increased revenue in first six months of 2019/20

Jena, Germany | Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Carl Zeiss Meditec generated revenue of €714.9m in the first six months of 2019/20 (prior year: €667.2m), achieving growth of 7.2% (adjusted for currency effects: +5.8%) compared with the same period of the prior year. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased slightly to €102.5m (prior year: €110.4m). The EBIT margin was 14.3% (prior year: 16.5%).

“Our revenue growth in the first six months of the year is the result of basically solid demand for our products and solutions” says Dr. Ludwin Monz, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG. “However, we, too, were significantly impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic during the second quarter, which was initially evident in the Asia/Pacific region and was then also abundantly clear in Europe and North America in March.”

Revenue in the Ophthalmic Devices strategic business unit (SBU) increased by 5.5 percent in the first six months of fiscal year 2019/20 (adjusted for currency effects: +4.2 percent), to €517.7m (prior year: €490.7m).
Revenue in the Microsurgery SBU grew by 11.7 percent (adjusted for currency effects: +10.1 percent), to €197.2m (prior year: €176.5m).

Revenue in the EMEA region decreased by 2.3 percent (adjusted for currency effects: -2.3 percent), to €208.7m (prior year: €213.7m). In March, in particular, incoming orders decreased in this region, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Americas region increased its revenue by 13.6 percent after the first six months of the current fiscal year (adjusted for currency effects: 10.8 percent), to €205.5m (prior year: €180.9m). The U.S. achieved good growth, although there was also a significant downturn in this region in March compared with the prior year.

The APAC region also made a positive contribution to growth, bolstered by a robust trend in Japan and South Korea, increasing revenue by 10.3 percent (adjusted for currency effects: +8.8 percent) to €300.7m (prior year: €272.6m). In China, however, in particular, temporary closures of clinics and postponements of non-acute surgical treatments in February and March resulted in substantial losses of revenue.

The operating result (earnings before interest and taxes: EBIT) fell slightly in the first six months of fiscal year 2019/20, to €102.5m (prior year: €110.4m). The EBIT margin decreased from 16.5 percent to 14.3 percent. Adjusted for special effects, this amounted to 14.7 percent (prior year: 16.8 percent). Earnings per share increased to €0.71 (prior year: €0.65), since losses on currency hedging transactions were significantly lower compared with the prior year.

“As we already communicated at the start of April, we are currently unable to give an exact forecast for the rest of fiscal year 2019/20, due to the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our priority at the present time is the safety of our employees and maintaining production operations and service in order to support our customers in the best possible way,” says Dr. Ludwin Monz.