aap Implantate AG, a medical technology company listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, achieved according to preliminary figures EUR 7.4 million in sales in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2009 (down 4 percent on the fourth quarter of 2008). Sales for the full year 2009 were increased by 3 percent on the previous year to EUR 33.0 million.

In the fiscal year 2009 aap also reached important milestones in its strategic realignment to the Ortho, Trauma and Spine lines of business, optimizing its cost and corporate structure. Employee numbers as at the end of the fiscal year 2009 were down by 23 percent on the year to 242 from 315. After the transfer of dental sales to an exclusive distributor, closure of the Düsseldorf site, the concentration of R&D activities on the three core lines of business, and the sale of the Analytics division in December of last year, aap was able to boost its agility and flexibility and to make its business model more transparent and more attractive for investors. In the fiscal year 2009 aap also achieved the strategic targets it had set itself for capital management: a debt coverage ratio of < 3 and an interest coverage ratio of > 6.

The aap group of companies earns its total sales in two ways: for one by means of product sales of biomaterials and implants sold under its own label and manufactured for OEM partners and for another by means of project sales and outlicensing. For 2010 the Management Board anticipates sales growth at the product level of at least 15 percent, that is, on the basis of 2009 sales revenue of around EUR 26 million (excluding Analytics) product sales of at least EUR 30 million in 2010. In addition, aap is planning in the current fiscal year to finalize two semi-exclusive license agreements for development projects with partner companies. Including product and project sales, aap continues to expect 2009 an EBITDA in the upper reaches of its forecasted range of EUR 5 million to EUR 7 million.

Corporate strategy at aap will continue in the fiscal year 2010 to concentrate on customers, costs, and cash with a view to reducing working capital and achieving profitable growth. Our aim is to take aap forward with own label products to which we hold the intellectual property rights from a generics manufacturer to a leading manufacturer of medical products. Our focus will be on the growth carriers anatomic stable-angle plate system, anatomic knee endoprosthetics, bone cement and collagen products. To step up the implementation speed of at which strategic targets are reached and continue to secure growth, aap plans in the first half of 2010 to strengthen the management team in areas that include research and development and business development.

aap plans to publish the full annual report for 2009 on March 31, 2010.