Sharply lower profits at Gretag

William Recker will take on role of chief executive at Gretag. Keystone / Michele Limina

Swiss-based imaging technology group, Gretag Imaging, has warned that lower sales and unexpected costs in the second half of 2000 will sharply reduce full year profit.

“Due to lower sales and unexpected costs in the second half of this year, net profit of SFr45 million to SFr55 million ($25-31 million) for 2000 will clearly fall short of what was previously expected,” Gretag said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the company said that its chairman, William Recker, would take on the additional job of chief executive, replacing Peter Fitzgerald who has held the post since 1998.

Recker said in a statement that the unexpected costs were mainly due to software and hardware problems, which raised service rates and parts consumption on installations of its APS film machines.

Recker compared efforts to correct the problems to a product recall but said, “As of today this corrective action has largely been completed”.

The company still expects higher sales of SFr920 million to SFr960 million for the full year, an increase of 33 to 38 per cent over 1999, with internal growth of more than 20 per cent.

It also said that in 2001 it expected to have internal sales growth of 15 to 25 per cent.

swissinfo with agencies