Excluding acquisitive effects, net sales amounted to CHF240.9 million for the first 9 months.
Net sales from the Gurit Wind Energy business reached CHF48.8 million for the third quarter (Q3) of 2011 (Q3 2010: CHF 42.0 million) and CHF138.9 million for the first 9 months of 2011 (9 months 2010: CHF116.2 million). Gurit says the restart of deliveries of glass fibre prepreg to a major customer in Europe and the beginning of a major carbon fibre prepreg programme for a customer in the Americas are increasing the sales momentum from Q3. Core material sales are seeing more pressure in China as that market is slowing down in the second half of 2011 compared with last year’s level. The company's Tooling business reports net sales of CHF13.1 million for Q3 2011 (Q3 2010: CHF9.1 million) and CHF31.7 million for the first 9 months of 2011 (9 months 2010: CHF36.9 million). Sales momentum was strong in Q3, especially due to the steadily growing demand from international customers. The Gurit Transportation business achieved net sales of CHF11.5 million in Q3 2011 (Q3 2010: CHF14.9 million) and CHF39.6 million in the first 9 months of 2011 (9 months 2010: CHF41.5 million). The sales momentum declined in Q3 as some customers had pre-purchased certain products in the first half of 2011 and because material shipments for rail applications did not reach last year’s figures. The Marine business saw net sales of CHF12.4 million for Q3 2011 (Q3 2010: CHF13.9 million) and CHF38.0 million for the first 9 months of 2011 (9 months 2010: CHF41.3 million). Gurit says the markets in the Americas and Far East Asia developed favourably, but demand in Europe, Australia and New Zealand was frail. Gurit expects to see further sequential quarterly sales growth and margin improvements for the remainder of 2011.
Gurit Holding AG, Switzerland, specialises in advanced composite materials and related technologies. The company's product range includes prepregs, core materials, gel-coats, adhesives, resins and consumables as well as certain finished parts.
