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Leading manufacturer of embedded computer systems posts record figures - EUR 67.6 million sales and EUR 6.1 million EBIT in second quarter - Board of Directors expects to double EBIT to EUR 20 million Kontron sharply increases earnings and sales forecasts for 2004 In the second quarter of 2004, the TecDAX-listed company Kontron AG, the world's leading manufacturer of embedded computer systems, posted strong growth rates in both revenues and profits compared with the same period last year. "The first half of the year was highly successful for Kontron", explained Hannes Niederhauser, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Kontron AG as the figures for the second quarter were announced. "All of the indicators are pointing to a continuation of our growth over the next few months." Consequently, the Board of Directors is sharply increasing its earnings and sales forecasts for 2004 as a whole and envisages doubling EBIT to a total of EUR 20 million. At the beginning of the year the Board had still been holding out the prospect of a 70 percent increase. The forecast for sales growth in the financial year 2004 was revised upwards from 16 to 20 percent. This years dynamic developments are being driven by three sources of growth momentum. Firstly, sales in North America increased significantly in the first half of the year. At the same time, development orders (otherwise known as design wins), which lead to concrete sales of at least EUR 1 million within the course of one year, showed a highly positive trend. By the end of the first half of 2004 some 136 design wins had been generated, compared with just 35 in the same period last year. The new telecommunications standard Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) is a third crucial source of growth momentum. ATCA is faster, more fault-tolerant and easier to maintain than previous telecommunications backbone systems and is based on economical standard technology (COTS). In the future, all of the major companies in the telecommunications industry will be adapting their former, internally developed backbone systems to this new standard, as developed by Kontron. This puts Kontron in a leading position in the development of these more efficient and economical ATCA boards. The relevant market volume for Kontron is forecast to more than USD 1.5 billion by 2007. Hannes Niederhauser reiterates his growth strategy by emphasizing that "Kontron's share of this market should amount to between 10 and 15 percent". Record figures in second quarter In the second quarter of 2004, Kontron increased its sales over the same period last year from EUR 54 million to EUR 67.6 million - an leap of 25.2 percent. As a result, sales in the first half of 2004 advanced by 20 percent, from EUR 109.2 million in the first half of 2003 to EUR 130.7 million. Organic sales growth, adjusted for exchange rate effects, thus came to 28 percent compared with the first half of 2003. The strongest growth momentum emanated from North America. Here, sales in the second quarter of 2004 rose to EUR 32.1 million, 13 percent higher than in the first quarter. European sales also increased significantly to EUR 41.9 million in the second quarter. Orders on hand climbed to EUR 108 million by the mid-year point in 2004, their third successive record. This represents an increase, adjusted for exchange rate effects, of 21 percent over the same period last year (EUR 94 million). Seventh successive increase in profits With EBIT coming to EUR 6.1 million in the second quarter of 2004, operating earnings increased for the seventh successive time. In the first half of the year, EBIT trebled from the corresponding level last year (EUR 3.6 million before special depreciations) to EUR 10.6 million. Net income totaled EUR 6.7 million in the first half of 2004, with the second quarter Kontaktinformationen: Investor Relations Kontron AG Gaby Moldan Tel:+49 8165 77643 Fax +49 8165 77219 gaby.moldan@kontron.com Engel & Zimmermann AG Dr. Udo Nimsdorf Tel: +49 89 89 35 633 Fax: +49 89 89 39 84 29 info@engel-zimmermann.de Kontron Mobile Computing Inc. RoseMary Luebke Tel: 952-974-7041 info@kontronmobile.com Asia Pacific Eddie Lin Tel: +886-2-2910 3532 ext.319 Fax: +886-2-2910 0180 mediarelation@kontron-asia.com Europe, Middle East and Africa Christian Eder Tel: +49 991 37024 - 702 Fax: +49 991 37024 - 102 christian.eder@kontron.com North America Richard Pugnier Tel: 858-677-0877 Fax: 858-677-0615 richard.pugnier@us.kontron.com Hornseth Communications (mobile products only) Gary Hornseth Tel: (651) 699-0759 ghornseth@uswest.net
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