Ad hoc: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG: Best re...

Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Annual accounts / Best results in the 
company's history. Pfeiffer Vacuum to pay record
dividend.
  
Ad hoc announcement according to §15 WpHG processed and transmitted 
by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of 
this announcement.     
   
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Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Annual accounts / Best results in the 
company's history. Pfeiffer Vacuum to pay record
dividend.
  
Ad hoc announcement according to §15 WpHG processed and transmitted 
by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of 
this announcement.     
   
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------




Asslar, Germany, March 27, 2008. Pfeiffer Vacuum, one of the leading
manufacturers of high-quality vacuum pumps, measurement equipment and
complete vacuum systems, announces its full, audited results for the
2007 fiscal year. All sales and profitability numbers were able to be
significantly increased. The proposed dividend will reach a record
level of ¤ 3.15 per share.

Highlights at a glance:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    | 2007            | 2006           | Change    |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Sales              | Euro 192.0      | Euro 179.5     | +   7.0 % |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Operating profit   | Euro   52.8     | Euro   45.0    | + 17.6 %  |
| (EBIT)             | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Net income         | Euro   37.3     | Euro   29.8    | + 25.2 %  |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Earnings per share | Euro  4.19      | Euro  3.39     | + 23.6 %  |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Dividend           | Euro  3.15      | Euro  2.50     | + 26.0 %  |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| New orders         | Euro 200.2      | Euro 175.6     | + 14.0 %  |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Orders on hand     | Euro   33.8     | Euro   25.6    |  + 32.0 % |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+


In fiscal 2007, the company succeeded in growing its sales by ¤ 12.5
million, or 7.0 percent, from ¤ 179.5 million to ¤ 192.0 million.
This marks the highest sales in the company's history and is within
the target corridor for sales that had been announced for 2007. This
means that Pfeiffer Vacuum was thus able to go against the influences
stemming from the weakness of the U.S. dollar. Although the exchange
rate between the dollar and euro had negatively impacted 2007 sales
by ¤ 3.8 million, the company generated 21.5 percent of its sales on
the American market.

At ¤ 52.8 million, the company's operating profit was up sharply by ¤
7.8 million, or 17.6 percent, from the previous year's outstanding
level of ¤ 45.0 million. This represents another significant rise.

Totaling ¤ 37.3 million, Pfeiffer Vacuum earned the highest after-tax
income in the company's history. After having set a record of ¤ 29.8
million in fiscal 2006, the increase amounts to a further ¤ 7.5
million or 25.2 percent.

New orders in 2007 amounted to ¤ 200.2 million, thus breaking the ¤
200 million sound barrier for the first time in the company's
history. The previous year's level of ¤ 175.6 million was
significantly surpassed by ¤ 24.6 million or 14.0 percent. As of
December 31, 2007, the book-to-bill ratio - the ratio between new
orders and sales - stood at 1.04 (2006: 0.98). This means that new
orders are thus significantly higher than sales, offering sufficient
predictability for the first months of fiscal 2008.

Capital expenditures for machinery, IT equipment and buildings rose
by nearly 20 percent in 2007 to ¤ 6.7 million, as opposed to ¤ 5.6
million the year before.

Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender had this to say about the
results: "I am proud of the fact that my Management Board colleague
Dr. Matthias Wiemer and I, together with our entire team, have
succeeded in again being able to present a successful year for
Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG. Totaling 27.5 percent (2006: 25.1
percent), our EBIT margin has again set a new record. We thus
continue to number among the most profitable companies in Germany and
need not fear any comparison worldwide. Following an outstanding 16.6
percent the year before, our after-tax return on sales now amounted
to 19.4 percent in 2007.

"At 692 people, our workforce grew by a mere one percent over the
year before. In other words: The company achieved its sales and
profitability targets through efficiency and productivity gains. We
will be rewarding our people's achievement by enabling them to share
in the company's profits.

"At the Annual Shareholders Meeting, we will propose that a dividend
in the amount of ¤ 3.15 per share be distributed. This represents a
26-percent increase over the year before and a distribution rate of
over 75 percent.

"In spite of the unclear prospects for the economy and the sustained
decline of the dollar, we expect to see continued growth in 2008;
however we do not wish to make any concrete sales forecast at the
present point in time. We continue to view an EBIT margin of between
25 and 27 percent as being realistic. We welcome the fact that our
loyalty to our German location is now being rewarded in the form of a
lower tax rate in connection with the German corporate tax reform.
Beginning in 2008, our tax rate will decline to 31 - 33 percent. This
will significantly increase our after-tax return and continue to
assure sufficient liquidity for capital investments."


Contact:
Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG
Investor Relations

Gudrun                                                       Geissler

Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
E-Mail [e-mail]


 
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Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG
Berliner Strasse 43 Asslar 
Germany

WKN: 691660; ISIN: DE0006916604; Index: TecDAX, CDAX, HDAX, MIDCAP, 
Prime All Share, TECH All Share;
Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, Prime 
Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, 
Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin, Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München, 

Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf, Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart, 

Freiverkehr in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg, Freiverkehr 
in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover, 
Freiverkehr in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;