[Leica] Spiegel - roughly translated

[feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli)]

Here's an article from todays L.A. Times



GLOBAL REPORT / FINANCIAL TIMES
Germany's Leica Focuses on Turnaround Strategy
?By Richard Milne, Financial Times

FRANKFURT ? The crisis at Leica, the iconic 156-year-old German maker 
of cameras used by star photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and 
David Bailey, has deepened in recent months as sales have slumped and 
banks have started to terminate credit lines.

After issuing a profit warning this month, Leica said it would replace 
its chief executive and is planning a recapitalization. Analysts blame 
a tentative and tardy entry into the digital camera market as demand 
for Leica's expensive high-quality film-based equipment has stagnated.

But Hermes, the French luxury goods group that is Leica's biggest 
shareholder with 31%, said last month that the camera maker should 
focus on its traditional business and possibly spin off its digital 
partnership with Panasonic of Japan.

Leica said that ' Hermes' supervisory board representatives had agreed 
to the recapitalization plan. Under the complex scheme, Leica would 
reduce its capital from 11.5 million euros (about $14 million) to 1.5 
million and combine three shares into one. It also would take 4.2 
million euros from its reserves to help offset most of the 
15.5-million-euro loss it incurred last year.

Shareholders would then be offered nine new shares for every one they 
hold, at 1.70 euros a share. The shares have been trading at around 
2.25 euros, which analysts suggested was about their worth after the 
complicated capital adjustments.

Ralf Coenen, the chief executive who has been in place only since 
January, will be replaced by turnaround expert Josef Spichtig. The 
company offered no explanation for his departure, but it comes after 
the April 11 warning that losses would be deeper than feared in 
February, when the company cautioned that they would be half the 
shareholder capital.

The problems at Leica underline the difficulties that traditional 
analog manufacturers have had adapting to the fast-moving digital age.
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