24.05.00, TePla AG: BUY
First-quarter results in line with estimates
TePla announced first-quarter results that
were mainly in line with our estimates. As we
detailed in yesterday’s note, sales improved
by 5.2% y-o-y to EUR 2.28m and TePla broke even
in the first quarter. TePla should benefit from
the recovery in the semiconductor industry and
their order income in the first quarter
reinforces our belief that our sales and
earnings targets will be achieved.
TePla’s sales driver in the first quarter
was their semiconductor unit, where sales
improved by 44%, from EUR 1.3m to EUR 1.8m.
TePla is benefiting from the recovery in
the semiconductor industry and we expect
further order income in this, their main
division, for fiscal 2000. The semiconductor
unit generated 80% of sales in the first
quarter. We estimate the semiconductor
unit will have sales of EUR 8m in fiscal
2000, approximately 50-60% of TePla’s total
sales for the year.
We expect other units such as surface
technology and PCB (printed circuit boards)
to be strengthened through acquisitions.
TePla currently is conducting the final
financial and legal due-diligence for their
planned acquisition in MetroLine Industries.
We believe that this acquisition will
strengthen their core surface technology
unit and we expect unit sales of
approximately EUR 10-12m if the deal
goes through.
TePla announced co-operation and outsourcing
agreements with Mania Technology and Hitachi
for the joint distribution of plasma systems
and units in foreign markets. Hitachi will
sell TePla products under the Hitachi brand
name. We expect the first unit sales of both
partners beginning in the third or fourth
quarters at the earliest. In our view, TePla
will benefit from these selling partnerships,
which focus on Asia and the US.
TePla’s overall figures are encouraging and
we believe the company will, at the least,
meet our expectations. We reiterate our BUY
rating on TePla with a 6-12 month price
target of EUR 40. We believe TePla has
tremendous growth opportunities in their
business units and good prospects for
establishing a leading market position in
the US, Europe and Asia.
Cengiz Sen, Commerzbank
Gruß von
Garion
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