The first six months of fiscal year 2017/18 (ended 31 March 2018) were successful for the ZEISS Group and saw its revenue rise by 9 percent to EUR 2.773 billion ($4.15 billion CAD), and as much as 13 percent after adjustments for currency effects.
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were high despite clearly negative currency effects compared to the previous year.
“It is our business in the high-tech fields of semiconductor manufacturing technology, industrial metrology and medical technology in particular that are enabling our growth and helping further advance the ZEISS Group,” said Prof. Dr. Michael Kaschke, President and CEO of ZEISS. “We are benefitting once again from our balanced and future-oriented portfolio and our broad global footprint.”
Revenue for the Vision Care/Consumer Products segment was $807 million CAD, compared to $829.5 million in the first 6 months of 2016/2017.
ZEISS also reports that they have increased spending on research and development by 20 percent to $447 million CAD and their number of employees by 8 percent. ZEISS now has a global workforce of 28,300 employess.
ZEISS executives were positive about the economic situation going forward: “At the present time, there is still excellent momentum for growth in Asia. Added to that is the sustained favorable impact of the global megatrends and a high demand in the semiconductor manufacturing technology segment,” says Kaschke. “The pleasing half-year figures motivate us to make fiscal year 2017/18 a record year for the ninth time in a row. Provided the overall economic framework conditions do not change in any major way, e.g. as a result of trade barriers, we are confident that we will succeed,” predicts the ZEISS CEO.
Source: ZEISS
