Oxford, MA--For the three months ended March 31, 2010, fiber laser and amplifier maker IPG Photonics saw revenue increase 13% to $51.2 million, compared to $45.4 million for the same period last year. "We executed well on our business plan in the first quarter of 2010 and reported net income at the top of, and revenue in-line with, our guidance range," said Valentin Gapontsev, IPG Photonics' CEO, in the company’s financial press release. "We increased gross margin by more than 5 percentage points year over year to 40% due to improved contribution margin, manufacturing absorption and product mix." See also recent business news from IPG: "IPG Photonics acquires German welding specialist Cosytronic" and "IPG Photonics acquires Photonics Innovations, enters mid-IR laser space".
The release goes on to say, "We see signs that a macroeconomic recovery is underway across most geographic regions," said Gapontsev. "Sales for materials processing applications increased 23% year-over-year and 4% sequentially, driven by increased sales of pulsed lasers for materials processing applications, particularly marking and engraving. Sales for medical applications delivered another quarter of triple-digit year-over-year growth as we continue to diversify our customer base and customers introduce new systems. Sequentially, medical applications were down 36% compared with a strong fourth quarter. The strength in materials processing and medical applications more than offset weaker sales in the telecommunications and advanced applications market which declined by 31% and 34%, respectively, year-over-year and 45% and 31%, respectively, on a sequential basis."
"We are encouraged by our prospects for a recovery in 2010 as we see demand returning in our most significant applications and geographies, including low-power marking and engraving applications and increasing demand for high-power lasers particularly for cutting applications, which is the largest single application in the materials processing market" said Gapontsev. "In the first quarter, we were also pleased that our book to bill ratio was greater than one and the continued positive trend in order flow is reflected in our guidance for the second quarter."
--Posted by Gail Overton; [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com