[Leica] Leica Camera AG record sales and earnings; Company pays a dividend!

[sethrosner at nycap.rr.com (Seth Rosner)]

Friends, I've been sufficiently busy and occasionally traveling that I 
unsubscribed some time back. But mindful of the very sharp criticism of 
Leica Camera some years ago by some LUG-ers, I had to stop in for this chat. 
Six years ago, many on the list were predicting the demise of Leica, for oh 
so many different reasons - they don't know their market, atrociously 
over-priced, well, you all remember some of that invective. 

I was somewhat more hopeful, serving then as president of LHSA and having 
met and had an opportunity to chat at some length with Andreas Kaufmann, the 
principal owner, during tghe LHSA annual meeting in Wetzlar. So I bought 
some shares in the Company, immediately had a one-for-three reverse split so 
I had 1/3 the number of shares. Well over the following years, with growing 
confidence in the Company's direction, I increased my modest stake. The 
average cost of my shares in US dollars is $6.80. The share value in US 
dollars at today's close is $26. and today the Company announced that its 
sales for the 2010-2011 fiscal year were ALMOST A QUARTER BILLION EUROS!, 
almost 100 million euros above last year, and earnings were almost six times 
higher than last year. Best of all, the Company will pay a dividend of Euro 
0.30/share! That's about a 4.5% return based on my share cost! No, it's not 
near enough to finance a new 50/1,4 Summilux-ASPH! But it is some 
unbelievable turn-around, eh?  

I've cut and pasted today's Leica announcement:

Leica Camera AG pays dividend after closing financial year with record sales
Leica Camera AG, Solms, finished the 2010/2011 financial year (1 April 2010 
to 31 March
2011) with record sales. With total sales of ?248.8 m, the Hessian company 
with a long
tradition of manufacturing cameras and sport optics products increased its 
sales by 57.2%
compared to the previous year (?158.2 m). The company?s earnings before 
interest and taxes
(EBIT) were almost six times higher. They rose from ?7.4 m in the previous 
financial year to
?41.5 m. The group profit was also higher than expected at ?36.3 m, more 
than 11 times
higher than the previous year (?3.2 m). At the company?s AGM on 12 August 
2011, the board
and supervisory board will propose that the shareholders distribute a 
dividend of ?0.30 per
share as a result of the positive balance. This would be the company?s first 
dividend payment
since 1997.
Alfred Schopf, CEO of Leica Camera AG: ?The increase in sales is primarily 
due to strong
demand for the Leica M and Leica S camera systems. In addition, the products 
presented at
photokina in September 2010 have also increased the momentum. Our employees 
deserve to
be thanked for the fact that, with the most complete product range in the 
history of Leica, we
have been able to increase sales continuously since the third quarter of the 
2009/2010
financial year.? According to Schopf, excellent quality and perfect service 
have top priority at
the company. He adds: ?The result of the most recent financial year is the 
best incentive for
Leica Camera AG to continue on our successful course. This will also include 
a high level of
investment in the company and in product development both this year and next 
? which
means we expect less quickly further growth during these two financial 
years.?