Press Releases

- Sales revenue up 25.9% to €392.7 million, compared to €311.9 million in 2009

- EBITDA more than doubled to €49.8 million versus €19.6 million in the previous year

- Net profit of €18.0 million, compared to a loss of €12.2 million in 2009

- Improved net financial debt to €76.5 million, versus €100.5 million on 31^st December 2009, despite the acquisition of Evolution Robotics Retail Inc.

- Approved the distribution of a dividend of 15 euro cents per share (coupon detachment on 2^nd May and payment on 5^th May 2011)

- Board of Directors authorized to undertake share buybacks and disposal 

Bologna, 28^th April, 2011 – Today the Annual General Meeting of Datalogic shareholders, a company listed on Mercato Telematico Azionario – Star Segment – organized and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A. and a market leader in bar code readers, data collection mobile computers, RFID and vision systems - approved the financial statements for the year ending on 31^st December 2010 and passed a resolution authorising the distribution of a dividend of 15 euro cents per share.

The dividend envisages coupon (no. 4) detachment on 2^nd May and payment as from 5^th May 2011.

Datalogic’s CEO, Mauro Sacchetto, commented: “2010 marks a return to profit for the Datalogic Group and validates the strategic decisions made in recent years. The challenge today is continuing to outpace growth in our key market, a performance we achieved in the first months of the year, although the macroeconomic and geopolitical situation remains unstable.

Our increasingly market-focused approach, demonstrated in the recent Group reorganisation, which aims to drive the Scanning and Mobile divisions (now under combined management) forward in synergy to tackle the Automatic Data Capture (ADC) market and high-level technological specialisation, will give the Group an ever-stronger leading position in its key markets.”

In FY2010 the Group achieved sales consolidated revenue of €392.7 million, up 25.9% compared to €311.9 million recorded in 2009.

Consolidated net profit amounted to €18 million, a marked trend reversal compared to 2009, when it recorded a loss of €12.2 million.

EBITDA rose to €49.8 million, more than double the €19.6 million reported in 2009, and with an EBITDA margin at 12.7% compared with 6.3% in the previous year. EBITANR [1] was €38.1 million, compared to €6.2 million in 2009.

Net financial debt on 31^st December 2010 was €76.5 million, a significant improvement compared to €100.5 million recorded on 31^st December 2009, thanks to strong cash generation in the second half of the year, and despite the acquisition of Evolution Robotics Retail on 1^st July 2010, which required an outlay of €20.96 million.

During the AGM shareholders also authorised the Board of Directors to buy and dispose of treasury shares. Buyback operations are motivated by Datalogic’s desire to act as a stabiliser, thus improving the stock’s liquidity and to use treasury shares for extraordinary transactions.

More specifically, this authorisation was granted for the purchase and subsequent disposal, up to a maximum of n. 11.689.298 ordinary shares, equal to 19.9% of share capital (including treasury shares already held), for the time period running from today to the date of the Shareholders’ Meeting for approval of the 2011 financial statements (i.e. 18 months). According to the resolutions, the purchase price for each ordinary share will range from 2 Euro to 20 Euro (nominal value).

The Shareholders also approved:

(i) the reduction in the number of Directors from 11 (eleven) to 10 (ten) pursuant to article 15 of the articles of association, following the resignation of Director Ludovico Floriani on 30 June 2010;

(ii) the adoption of new rules for General Meeting proceedings;

(iii) the remuneration policy for directors with specific tasks at the Company and for managers with strategic responsibilities at the Company and the Group.

In terms of extraordinary matters, the shareholders resolved:

(i) the amendment to article 10 of the articles of association to exclude the use of a designated representative pursuant to article 153-undecies of the TUF and articles 12 and 15 of the articles of association, for the purposes of using the powers set out in articles 11 (paragraphs 3 and 5) and 13 (paragraph 6) of the regulations on related party transactions adopted by Consob with resolution 17221/2010;

(ii) to statutorily assign to the AGM the possibility of increasing the share capital, including pursuant to article 2441, paragraph 4.2 of the Civil Code, also confirming the possibility to delegate to the Board of Directors the power to increase the share capital – pursuant to and in compliance with article 2443 of the Civil Code – either for payment or free of charge and with or without option rights;

(iii) to assign to the Board of Directors, for a period of one year from the date of the resolution, the power, pursuant to article 2443 of the Civil Code, to carry out a capital increase by payment, in one or more occasions, in tranches, for a maximum nominal amount of EUR 2,600,000.0 (twomillionsixhundredthousand/00) via the issue of up to 5,000,000 (fivemillion) ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.52 (zero point fivetwo) each, to be placed exclusively with qualified third-party investors and/or any industrial partners of the Company, excluding the option right for shareholders pursuant to article 2441, paragraph 4.2 of the Civil Code and/or pursuant to article 2441, paragraph 5 of the Civil Code;

(iv) to establish that the above authority also includes the power to determine, on an individual basis, the issue price of the shares, including any premium, as well as dividends, provided that this does not entail the issue – excluding the option right pursuant to article 2442, paragraph 4.2 of the Civil Code – of a total number of shares greater than 5,000,000 (fivemillion) or in any case greater than 10% (ten per cent) of the capital existing before the related resolution by the Company's Board of Directors, all of the above in compliance with other conditions prescribed by law;

(v) to amend the text of article 5 of the articles of association consequent to the resolutions described in points (ii), (iii) and (iv).

Finally please note that:

(i) a summary statement of the voting, including the number of shares represented at the AGM, the number of shares for which votes were cast and the percentage of the capital represented by these shares, and also including the number of votes in favour of and votes against the resolutions and the number of abstentions, will be published on the Company's website no later than 5 (five) days after today’s date, pursuant to 125-quater, paragraph 2 of the TUF;

(ii) the minutes of the above-mentioned Shareholders’ Meeting will be made publicly available within 30 days pursuant to art. 77, para. 3 and art. 85, para. 1-bis of the Issuers Regulation.

The manager responsible for preparing the company’s financial reports - Dott. Marco Rondelli – declares, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Art. 154-bis of the “Testo Unico della Finanza”, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the document results, books and accounting records.