Tornos' first nine months' sales up on 2005

Gross sales for the third quarter came to CHF 60.1 million, again up on 2005 (CHF 53.4 million), bringing the cumulative total to CHF 175.0 million as at September 30, a growth of 3.6 per cent on the previous year (CHF 168.9 million). Asia, Switzerland and the medical sector were the most dynamic markets, while Germany and the automotive industry contributed less to growth. New orders have slackened off slightly in the past two months. However, the company says it would be premature to say whether this is simply because of the volatile nature of this indicator or one of the earliest signs that the trend is reversing. Gross sales predicted to be within the range CHF 240 to 250 million for 2007 as a whole. The group's net profit for the first nine months of the year stands at CHF 10.6 million, down 18.6 per cent compared to the same period of last year (CHF 13.0 million). This decline is in line with expectations and mainly attributable to the weak result for the first quarter of 2006 (CHF 2.1 million), resulting from the economic downturn recorded in the second half of 2005. One Swiss Franc (CHF) = £0.42