Record year for AVT

Advanced Vision Technology Ltd (AVT), the provider of automatic optical inspection and quality assurance systems for the printing and packaging industry, completed a highly successful year, increasing its sales by 17.7 per cent in 2005, to USD 25.1 million.

Profitability for the year ending 31 December 2005 grew 90.7 per cent to USD 4.2 million, up from USD 2.2 million in 2004.

Sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 amounted to USD 6.6 million, an increase of 11.8 per cent on the same period in 2004. These results represent the sixteenth consecutive quarter of growth for the company.

‘The year 2005 was one of exciting growth for AVT,’ said Shlomo Amir, president and CEO. ‘We continued our penetration of the worldwide labels market, and revenues from that sector now account for approximately 20 per cent.

‘During the year, the company opened representative office in Shanghai and participated in several important trade shows in the Far East, as well as in Europe and the Americas. We have also increased our presence and visibility in Eastern European countries as well as in Russia. All these new markets are developing quickly and the benefits in quality, waste reduction and production efficiency that AVT's solutions can deliver will contribute to the ability of companies in these regions to satisfy their customers' demands,’ Shlomo Amir continued.

‘AVT will continue to deliver its established solutions, and is planning to strengthen its presence in the Far East, as well as maintaining its strategy of continuous R&D to introduce new solutions to the graphic arts market,’ he said.
Sales revenues for 2005 were up 17.7 per cent to USD 25.1 million (USD 21.4 million in 2004). Systems sales accounted for USD 23.7 million, while revenues from maintenance, training and support services grew by 22.5 per cent% to USD 1.4 million (USD 1.1 million in 2004).

The order book for 2005 totalled USD 26.1 million, a 10 per cent increase over 2004 (USD 23.7 million). At the end of 2005, AVT recorded an order backlog of USD 8.8 million, up 9.0 per cent over the balance at the end of 2004. Some 65-75 per cent of these orders are expected to become revenues in the first quarter of 2006, with the remainder feeding through in subsequent quarters of the year.

The distribution of AVT's sales reflects the improved strength of the American market with 45 per cent of sales originating from the Americas (37 per cent in 2004), with 40.3 per cent coming from Europe (42 per cent in 2004) and 14.7 per cent from the rest of the world (20 per cent in 2004).

‘Improvements in the global market and identification of emerging markets lead us to expect that our momentum and growth will continue in 2006. Today, AVT systems are installed on less than 10 per cent of the world's installed base of packaging and labels presses. With that potential, and those in other sectors, our opportunity for growth is exciting and far reaching,’ Shlomo Amir concluded.