Ad hoc: Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG: Pfeiffe...

Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG / Interim report / Pfeiffer Vacuum 
Announces 1 HY 2008 Earnings and reiterates year-end
guidance. Growth coming primarily from Germany.
  
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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Asslar, Germany, July 29, 2008. Pfeiffer Vacuum, a leading
manufacturer of high-quality vacuum pumps, vacuum gauges, analytical
equipment and complete vacuum systems, announces its results for 1st
half of the 2008 fiscal year.


Highlights at a glance:


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    | 1 HY / 2008    | 1 HY / 2007    | Change     |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| Sales              | Euro 95.8      | Euro 90.8      | +   5.6 %  |
|                    | million        | million        |            |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| Operating profit   | Euro 24.8      | Euro 23.5      | +   5.4 %  |
| (EBIT)             | million        | million        |            |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| Net income         | Euro 17.7      | Euro 17.8      |  -   0.4 % |
|                    | million        | million        |            |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| Earnings per share | Euro   2.00    | Euro   1.99    | +   0.5 %  |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| New orders         | Euro 103.3     | Euro 109.9     |  -   6.0 % |
|                    | million        | million        |            |
|--------------------+----------------+----------------+------------|
| Orders on hand     | Euro 41.3      | Euro 44.7      |  -   7.6 % |
|                    | million        | million        |            |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    | Q 2 / 2008      | Q 2 / 2007     | Change    |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Sales              | Euro 46.8       | Euro 44.0      | +   6.4 % |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Operating profit   | Euro 11.4       | Euro 11.3      | +   1.3 % |
| (EBIT)             | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| Net income         | Euro   8.4      | Euro   9.8     |  - 13.9 % |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
|--------------------+-----------------+----------------+-----------|
| New orders         | Euro 48.7       | Euro 55.2      |  - 11.8 % |
|                    | million         | million        |           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



Sales advanced by 5.6 percent from ¤ 90.8 million in the 1st half of
2007 to ¤ 95.8 million in the 1st half of 2008. The strongest growth
was recorded in Germany, where sales rose by nearly 34 percent to ¤
34.1 million in the 1st half of 2008. Customers from the solar sector
accounted for a high percentage of this growth. Pfeiffer Vacuum
supplies this growth market with pumps, components and complete
vacuum systems for the production of thin-layer solar cells. In late
May 2008, customer Solibro, a Q-Cells subsidiary, named the company
its best supplier.

In the other countries of Europe, sales rose by 5.7 percent from ¤
28.4 million to ¤ 30.0 million, with sales in France, Scandinavia and
Austria/Southeast Europe developing at an above-average pace. The
growth driver in all European countries was the market segment of
industrial applications.

Sales declined significantly in the United States due to the sluggish
semiconductor market and the increasing weakness of the U.S. dollar
relative to the euro. Expressed in euros, U.S. sales declined by ¤
4.5 million, or 21.3 percent, from ¤ 20.9 million to ¤ 16.4 million.
¤ 2.5 million of this was attributable to the weak U.S. dollar.

In Asia and the rest of the world, sales came close to matching last
year's levels.

In the first half of 2008, sales of turbopumps declined by 9.2
percent from ¤ 41.1 million to ¤ 37.3 million, primarily due to the
weakness of the American market. During the same period, sales of
vacuum components rose by 9.1 percent from ¤ 21.9 million to ¤ 23.9
million. Backing pump sales increased from ¤ 13.3 million to ¤ 14.0
million. The Systems product segment saw the strongest growth, with
sales here advancing from ¤ 1.6 million to ¤ 8.0 million.

Totaling ¤ 103.3 million, new orders in the 1st half of 2008 were
down ¤ 6.6 million from the 1st half of 2007. What is noteworthy in
this connection, however, was that a major, double-digit million
contract from Solibro had been recorded during this same period last
year. The trend in the company's core business with pumps and
components is positive. New orders are significantly outpacing sales,
resulting in a positive book-to-bill ratio of 1.08. The strongest
demand is coming from Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom
and China, as opposed to declining demand in the United States. The
analytical, industrial and solar markets continue to develop on a
positive note.

The weak U.S. dollar, higher prices for energy and raw materials,
moderately rising personnel expense as well as renovation costs led
to a 9.4-percent increase in cost of materials. Operating profit rose
from ¤ 23.5 million to ¤ 24.8 million. As expected, lower financial
income plus exchange rate losses led to a decline in earnings before
taxes from ¤ 27.4 million to ¤ 26.1 million. Thanks to a more
favorable tax rate, net income of ¤ 17.7 million was able to be kept
at more or less the previous year's level of ¤ 17.8 million.

Chief Executive Officer Manfred Bender had this to say: "Only to a
limited extent is Pfeiffer Vacuum able to avoid the effects of
economic weakness in the United States and the semiconductor crisis.
Fortunately, though, we are less dependent upon the semiconductor
industry than our competitors, who are having to cope with
considerably higher shortfalls. We've done our homework and, with the
aid of our new Logistics Center, our production operation can respond
flexibly to fluctuations in the marketplace. Our strength, a good
balance of market positions, is becoming evident during this phase.
This enabled us, for example, to grow our sales by 5.6 percent during
the 1st half of the year.

"Given our high level of orders on hand and concrete ongoing
projects, we are confident of being able to achieve our goal of
between ¤ 202 and ¤ 207 million in total sales with an EBIT margin of
between 25 and 27 percent.

"In recent weeks, we have reviewed potential acquisition candidates.
In one case, the talks were broken off by the seller. The second
company was thoroughly analyzed, with particular attention being paid
to its products and manufacturing locations. At yesterday's meeting
of our Supervisory Board, we suggested that this project not be
pursued. The Supervisory Board concurred with this suggestion.

"On June 2, 2008, we began buying back treasury stock, and have since
crossed the 3-percent threshold. Should these shares not be used in
connection with an acquisition, they will be withdrawn from
circulation at year end."


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;