ROFIN-SINAR Reports Results For The First Quarter Of Fiscal Year 2015

PLYMOUTH, Mich. and HAMBURG, Germany, Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RSTI), one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of high-performance laser beam sources and laser-based solutions, today announced results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2014.               

"Our first quarter results demonstrate that our business is performing well. We achieved excellent sales levels in the automotive and solar industries, as well as solid sales in the machine tool, electronics and medical device industries, although sales to the semiconductor industry softened. These results were adversely affected by exchange rate volatility, since nearly 70% of our revenue is not dollar-denominated. Our quarterly earnings per share nearly tripled year-over-year, helped by a reduction in operating expenses, but were negatively impacted by volume-related, under-absorbed fixed costs, timing for revenue recognition on certain orders, and a less favorable product mix, which resulted in net sales and earnings per share below our guidance for the quarter. Applying the average exchange rates underlying our last fiscal year, orders came in as expected on a very solid level," said Gunther Braun, CEO and President of RSTI.

"We expect European and North American business conditions to be stable throughout the calendar year, assuming that European monetary policy does not have a significant influence on the economy. We also expect our Asian business to improve over the year, primarily due to the Chinese government's initiatives in infrastructure, green and semiconductor technologies, as well as stable business in our other Asian markets."

"We continue to see increased interest from worldwide OEM customers for our third generation of high-power fiber lasers and we have started to produce these fiber lasers for first shipments in February. We will continue to introduce new products, such as ultrashort-pulse lasers, and use our products in new applications such as brittle material cutting, which together will help us to achieve our gross margin goal of 40% by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015. Our substantial backlog, as well as other business prospects in our pipeline, position us to significantly improve our market position and support future growth in revenue and profitability," Mr. Braun concluded.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

- First Quarter -
Net sales totaled $122.4 million for the first quarter ended December 31, 2014, a 1% increase over the first quarter of fiscal year 2014. The strengthening of the US dollar, mainly against the Euro, resulted in a decrease in net sales of $7.1 million in the first quarter. Gross profit totaled $42.6 million, or 35% of net sales, compared to $41.3 million, or 34% of net sales, in the same period of fiscal year 2014. RSTI net income amounted to $6.2 million, or 5% of net sales, compared to $2.2 million, or 2% of net sales, in the comparable quarter last fiscal year. The diluted per share calculation equaled $0.22 for the quarter based upon 28.2 million weighted-average common shares outstanding, compared to the diluted per share calculation of $0.08 based upon 28.3 million weighted-average common shares outstanding for the same period last fiscal year.

SG&A expenses amounted to $24.1 million, representing 20% of net sales, and decreased by $1.3 million compared to last fiscal year's first quarter. Net R&D expenses decreased by $0.9 million to $10.6 million (9% of net sales), compared to $11.5 million (10% of net sales) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.

Sales of laser products for macro applications decreased by 3% to $47.7 million, accounting for 39% of total sales. Sales of lasers for marking and micro applications increased by 3% to $57.6 million representing 47% of total sales. Sales of components increased by 6% to $17.1 million representing 14% of total sales.

On a geographical basis, revenues in North America increased by 10%, totaling $27.1 million and by 5% in Asia, to $39.0 million, and decreased by 5% in Europe, to $56.3 million.

The following table illustrates the development of the order entry and sales figures, taking into account exchange rate fluctuations. The non-GAAP presentation shows the first quarter 2015 figures when applying the average exchange rates of the first quarter of fiscal year 2014: 

- Backlog -
Order entry for the quarter decreased by 13% to $122.7 million compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, resulting in a backlog of $141.6 million as of December 31, 2014, mainly for laser products. As of December 31, 2014, ROFIN-SINAR had a book-to-bill ratio of 1.0 for the first quarter.

- Outlook -
For the second quarter ending March 31, 2015, taking into account the anticipated impact of the average exchange rate, the Company expects sales to be in the range of $121 million to $126 million and earnings per share to be in the range of $0.21 to $0.23.

For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, the Company is updating its guidance because of the current negative impact of the average exchange rates. This updated guidance does not reflect any material change in the operating assumptions underlying the Company's earlier guidance for its fiscal year. The Company now expects sales to range between $515 million to $535 million and net income profitability at the mid-point of the sales range to be around 7% of net sales.

The Company's second quarter and fiscal year 2015 guidance takes into account the estimated unfavorable impact of the average exchange rate resulting mainly from the recent strengthening of the US dollar, to the extent that it continues. The majority of any such impact affects the sales level, with net income being affected to a lesser degree due to natural hedging.

Actual results may differ from this forecast, including as a result of higher volatility in exchange rates, and are subject to the safe harbor statement discussed in more detail below.

Non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, the results prepared in accordance with GAAP. The Company believes that non-GAAP information is useful because it can enhance the understanding of its ongoing economic performance. The Company has chosen to provide this information to investors to enable them to perform comparisons of order entry and sales results.

With almost 40 years of experience, ROFIN-SINAR Technologies is a leading developer, designer and manufacturer of lasers and laser-based system solutions for industrial material processing applications. The Company focuses on developing key innovative technologies and advanced production methods for a wide variety of industrial applications based on a broad scope of technologies. The product portfolio ranges from single laser-beam sources to highly complex systems, covering all of the key laser technologies such as CO₂ lasers, fiber, solid-state and diode lasers, and the entire power spectrum, from single-digit watts up to multi-kilowatts, as well as a comprehensive spectrum of wavelengths or pulse durations and an extensive range of laser components. ROFIN-SINAR Technologies has its operational headquarters in Plymouth, Michigan, and Hamburg, Germany and maintains production facilities in the US, Germany, UK, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Singapore, and China. ROFIN currently has more than 52,000 laser units installed worldwide and serves more than 4,000 customers. The Company's shares trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RSTI and are listed in Germany in the "Prime Standard" segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under ISIN US7750431022. ROFIN is part of the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index. Additional information is available on ROFIN-SINAR's home page: www.rofin.com.

A conference call is scheduled for 11:00 AM Eastern, today, Thursday, February 5, 2015. This call is also being broadcast live over the internet in listen-only mode. The recording will be available on the Company's home page for approximately 90 days. For the live webcast, please go to http://www.rofin.com at least 10 minutes prior to the call in order to download and install any necessary software. For more information, please contact Briget Ampudia, Taylor Rafferty, New York at +1-212-889-4350 or Miles Chapman, Taylor Rafferty, London at +44 (0) 203 666 5069.

(Tables to follow)

The Company's conference call will include discussions relative to the current quarter results and some comments regarding forward-looking guidance on future operating performance.

"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

Certain information in this press release that relates to future plans, events or performance, including statements such as "We expect European and North American business conditions to be stable throughout the calendar year, assuming that European monetary policy does not have a significant influence on the economy. We also expect our Asian business to improve over the year, primarily due to the Chinese government's initiatives in infrastructure, green and semiconductor technologies, as well as stable business in our other Asian markets" or "We continue to see increased interest from worldwide OEM customers for our third generation of high-power fiber lasers and we have started to produce these fiber lasers for first shipments in February. We will continue to introduce new products, such as ultrashort-pulse lasers, and use our products in new applications such as brittle material cutting, which together will help us to achieve our gross margin goal of 40% by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015. Our substantial backlog, as well as other business prospects in our pipeline, position us to significantly improve our market position and support future growth in revenue and profitability" or "For the second quarter ending March 31, 2015, taking into account the anticipated impact of the average exchange rate, the Company expects sales to be in the range of $121 million to $126 million and earnings per share to be in the range of $0.21 to $0.23" or  "The Company now expects sales to range between $515 million to $535 million and net income profitability at the mid-point of the sales range to be around 7% of net sales" or "The majority of any such impact affects the sales level, with net income being affected to a lesser degree due to natural hedging" is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Actual results could differ materially based on numerous factors, including currency risk, competition, risk relating to sales growth in CO₂, diode, and solid-state lasers, cyclicality, conflicting patents and other intellectual property rights of fourth parties, potential infringement claims and future capital requirements, as well as other factors set forth in our annual report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's best judgment as of the date of this release based in part on preliminary information and certain assumptions which management believes to be reasonable. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc.

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