Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]More following: > Leica announced the following today [June 1,2005] > > > "Dear ladies and gentlemen, > > By agreeing to the capital measures proposed by Leica > Camera AG's Board of Management and the Supervisory > Board, the company has taken a decisive step on the way > to overcoming the financial crisis. A comprehensive report > will supply you with further details. All Associated Press News FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Shareholders of Germany's struggling Leica Camera AG approved a plan Tuesday to raise 23 million euros ($28.4 million) in a share sale aimed at allowing the company to continue funding its operations. Swiss executive Josef Spichtig, who was named chief executive in April, proposed the plan after the Solms-based company's banks cut off lines of credit earlier this year. He predicted the company won't break even before 2006 at the earliest. "We know that no short-term miracles are to be expected," he told the shareholders, who included representatives of luxury retailer Hermes and Austrian Capital Management, which hold some 60 percent of the company's shares between them. Spichtig said the company would seek to offer more digital products, including the Digital Modul-R, a back that gives Leica's analog models the capability to become digital. Leica is also expected to partner with a yet as unnamed company to make compact cameras, and continue production of its upscale M- and R-series. "Leica is not meant to become a small shop for the nostalgic, but a way to connect tradition with innovation in a meaningful way and grow again," he said. Leica shares were down 4.3 percent to 2.44 euros ($3.01) in late afternoon trading in Frankfurt. Spichtig became CEO after Ralf Coenen agreed to step down, the second such move in 10 months. Coenen was named CEO in January and replaced Hanns-Peter Cohn, who left to be the head of Vitra AG, a Swiss furniture maker. Cohn had been CEO since 1999. The company posted a fiscal year 2004-2005 net loss of 15.5 million euros ($19.1 million), more than 14 million euros ($17.3 million) it had forecast. Founded in 1849 as a maker of microscopes, Leica became a brand of choice for photographers seeking high-end, handmade 35mm cameras. Its first model was invented in 1914 by Oskar Barnack, but not sold until 1925. The company has nearly 1,300 workers in Germany. ___ On the Net: http://www.leica-camera.com