Tecan more than doubles its growth in the year 2000

Sales increase by 42% to CHF 273 million

Zurich, Switzerland, 16 January 2001 – Tecan, the leading global provider of enabling solutions for laboratories and the life sciences industry, today reported unaudited worldwide sales of CHF 273 million for the entire year 2000, an increase of 42% compared with CHF 193 million achieved in 1999. In local currencies, sales increased by 33%. In the fourth quarter 2000, sales increased by 48% to CHF 83 million compared to CHF 56 million in 1999.

“Our very strong performance in 2000 reflects our capacity to deliver innovative products with high added value to our clients. While all our markets contributed to this success, we also have experienced substantial growth in each of our three business areas, which clearly performed above industry growth rates. We are particularly pleased with our successful entry in the field of Genomics / Proteomics as it positions Tecan very well in these fast growing markets," said Emile Sutcliffe, CEO of the Tecan Group.

Above average industry growth rates in all business areas

In Genomics and Proteomics, Tecan sales more than doubled in the year 2000 reaching CHF 45 million or 16% of total sales, compared to CHF 21 million in 1999. This outstanding performance was due to strong demand for Tecan’s fully automated high throughput systems for Genomics and functional Genomics. Sales in the area of Proteomics represented approximately 10% of this business.

Drug Discovery sales grew by 42% to CHF 129 million, or 47% of total sales (1999:  91m). This strong performance was due to continued strong demand for Tecan's enabling solutions that help to eliminate crucial bottlenecks in the drug discovery process.

Diagnostics sales reached CHF 99 million or 36% of total sales, an increase of 22 % compared to 81 million in 1999. This business area also outperformed its respective market by focusing on new distribution channels (mainly key account business).

America represents 49% of total sales

All geographical markets posted significant sales growth. Helped by a strong US dollar, sales in  North-America grew by 55% (+38% in local currencies) to CHF 134 million in 2000 or 49% of company sales (1999: CHF 87m). This was due to a solid performance in the field of Genomics/Proteomics  and Drug Discovery.

European sales reached CHF 120 million last year (1999: CHF 93m), a 30% increase over last year (+31% in local currencies). Asia, representing 7% of total sales, posted a gain of 37% (+16% in local currencies) to CHF 19 million (1999: CHF 14m).

“For 2001, we expect continued sales growth in line with the performance we delivered in 2000, as we continue to see strong demand from the pharmaceutical and biotech industry both in Europe and in North America," added Mr. Sutcliffe."

Fully audited financial results for the year 2000, will be released on March 8th 2001.