STUTTGART, Germany—Carl Zeiss AG posted revenues of €2.143 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2010/11 which ended March 31, 2011, an increase of 19 percent over the previous year or 16 percent after adjustment for currency fluctuations. The Stuttgart-based company noted that its newly consolidated Vision Care business group contributed to the strong organic growth.

Business outside Germany accounted for 87 percent of total revenues, Carl Zeiss reported. In America, the Carl Zeiss Group posted a 13 percent increase in revenues to a total of €466 million. Carl Zeiss achieved strong growth in Asia; after currency adjustments, the company recorded a 12 percent increase in revenues to a total of €298 million. In Europe, Carl Zeiss posted growth of eight percent over the same period last year after currency adjustments.
EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) amounted to €355 million, up from €176 million in the year-ago period. Net income totaled €240 million versus €81 million year-ago. “We have gotten off to a good start in the current fiscal year," said Dr. Michael Kaschke, president and CEO of Carl Zeiss AG.

Carl Zeiss reported that its global workforce, which numbered 23,787 people as of March 31, 2011, had nearly doubled in the past year due to the full consolidation of Carl Zeiss Vision. The integration of global Vision Care business has led to an increase in the proportion of employees working for the company outside Germany from around 40 percent to just under 60 percent, according to Carl Zeiss.

Cash flow before income taxes in the first half of fiscal year 2010/11 totaled €477 million, or 22 percent of revenues, versus €506 million, or 17 percent of revenues as of September 30, 2010, the end of the fiscal year. Gross cash for the first six months of 2010/11 totaled €1.256 billion. Net cash amounted to €336 million versus €884 million as of the end of the fiscal year. “Here, the acquisition and refinancing of Carl Zeiss Vision must be taken into account,” explained Thomas Spitzenpfeil, CFO of Carl Zeiss AG. He added that this also impacted the company’s equity, which totaled more than one billion euros, a ratio of 24 percent, as of March 31, 2011.

According to Carl Zeiss, the Vision Care Group generated revenues of totaling €429 million in the first six months of fiscal year 2010/11, a three percent increase after adjustment for consolidation effects. Vision Care will be fully consolidated in fiscal year 2010/11, Carl Zeiss noted. Revenue and earnings of the Carl Zeiss Vision eyeglass group for previous year were calculated on a like-for-like basis, and the changes specified are based on comparable pro forma figures for Carl Zeiss AG including Carl Zeiss Vision, the company said.

The Medical Systems business group, which primarily comprises the listed company Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, continues to show a positive development in the first half of the fiscal year, Zeiss said. Revenues totaled €413 million, a 17 percent rise over the previous year. The values deviate from the published figures of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG as a result of different consolidation models, Carl Zeiss noted.