IPG Photonics' Q3 revenues up 74% over last year

Oxford, MA--"IPG continued its strong growth momentum in the third quarter with record revenues," said Valentin Gapontsev, CEO of IPG Photonics. "For the third quarter of 2010 [ended September 30], IPG reported revenues [of $79.8 million] which grew by 74% year-over-year and 19% sequentially [compared to revenues of $45.8 million for the same quarter of 2009]. We also demonstrated the strength of our business model, as gross margins increased to 50.0% compared with 36.5% in the third quarter of 2009 and 45.3% in the second quarter of 2010."

"An 88% increase in pulsed laser sales, the best selling product in the quarter, was driven by strong demand for marking/engraving, and an 83% increase in high-power laser sales, the second-best selling product line in the quarter, benefited from the increase in the cutting OEMs and welding demand," said Gapontsev. "Telecommunication sales increased by 160% year-over-year, and 144% sequentially, due to demand in Russia and the U.S. We had a year-over-year decline for medical sales, which was primarily related to lower sales to our large U.S. medical OEM customer. Sales for advanced applications, which tend to be more uneven, were down 18% year-over-year due to strong European sales in the third quarter of 2009. Geographically, we experienced robust growth in all major regions as the general economic climate improved."
IPG also announced the sale of a 12.5% ownership in its Russia-based subsidiary, NTO IRE-Polus (NTO) to the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) for $25 million. RUSNANO was established in 2007 to invest in nanotechnology development, including projects in solar energy, nanostructured materials, medicine and biotech, mechanical engineering and metal working, optoelectronics and infrastructure. Under the terms of the agreement, RUSNANO will have options to purchase up to an additional 12.5% of NTO for an additional $25 million over the next five years if certain sales targets at NTO are achieved. IPG will maintain majority ownership and control of NTO and has a call option after three years to buy back the minority stake at a predetermined value.

"We anticipate that the sales momentum we have experienced during the first nine months of 2010 will continue through the end of the year," said Gapontsev. "As we enter the last quarter of the year, we will continue to focus on maintaining the high quality of our products while we increase the penetration of our fiber lasers in existing and new applications, expanding our OEM and customer base, and further extend our leadership position in the markets we serve. As sales of our lasers continue to increase, we expect to benefit from the leverage in our business model."

IPG Photonics expects revenues in the range of $80 million to $86 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. The Company anticipates earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.30 to $0.35 based on 47,700,000 common shares, which includes 46,533,000 basic common shares outstanding and 1,167,000 potentially dilutive options at September 30, 2010.

SOURCE: IPG Photonics; http://investor.ipgphotonics.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=525329

Posted by:Gail Overton

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