Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin AS.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this
announcement.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------
The past year on the stock market was distinguished by fears of
recession and heavy losses on financial markets worldwide. The Swiss
Market Index (SMI) retreated -34.8% while Germany's benchmark index
(DAX) plummeted
-40.4%. Investors were so jittery that even medical technology, a
sector known for its defensive qualities, was unable to hold its
ground in the face of the broad decline in share prices. Mirroring
the broad market decline, BB MEDTECH's Net Asset Value fell by -40.9%
to CHF 45.58. Much of the decline came in the first quarter, when NAV
slumped -21.9%. NAV performed better in the following quarters thanks
to the reallocation of portfolio assets. Due to the upheaval on
financial markets, the discount between BB MEDTECH's share price and
its NAV widened from 5% to 12%; the share price ended the year down
-45.1% at CHF 40.30 (including dividends). The company's equity
(excluding treasury shares) amounted to CHF 518 mn as at December 31,
2008. The Board of Directors will propose a dividend of CHF 0.90 per
share at the general meeting of shareholders on March 30, 2009.
As part of its efforts to promote the continual development of BB
MEDTECH, the Board of Directors redefined the cornerstones of the
company's investment strategy. Detailed fundamental market and
company analysis and regular close contact with the management of our
portfolio holdings remain the focal point of our activities, as in
the past. The expertise of the Board of Directors and the management
team in the medtech market and our extensive industry network will
likewise remain the key elements of the investment process. The
objective is to maintain a portfolio of
10 to 15 participations in mid-sized, well managed companies
positioned in highly attractive segments of the medical technology
market such as molecular diagnostics. The regional focus is on Europe
and North America but may be widened to include individual
participations in Asia. Furthermore, we intend to be an active
investor in one to three other companies, working together with their
management to achieve a sustained, significant increase in company
value over the long term. These core participations should account
for less than half of BB MEDTECH's equity.
We increased the diversification of our portfolio during the past
year in accordance with the aforementioned investment guidelines. The
greatest change concerned the reduction in our long-standing holdings
in Nobel Biocare and Sonova. After conducting a detailed analysis of
the global market for dental implants and hearing instruments we took
a cautious stance regarding the market's short and mid-term outlook
and therefore reduced our exposure to these two sectors to zero for
the time being. Some of the resulting cash was reinvested in new
participations. These include Masimo (7% of shareholders' equity), a
company offering patient monitoring systems in intensive care,
Mindray (5%), a Chinese hospital supplier, and the US company
Illumina (5%). Illumina's innovative genetic analysis products
enhance our investment focus on molecular diagnostics. Celera (5%)
and Epigenomics (1%) are two other companies with substantial growth
potential that were added to our portfolio in early 2008. They
enhance the cluster of holdings centered around Qiagen, our core
holding in the field of molecular diagnostics. New positions were
also established in Carl Zeiss Meditec (2%) and Optos (1%), both
specialists in the field of ophthalmology, and in the point-of-care
diagnostics company Axis-Shield (1%). Qiagen (20% of shareholders'
equity) delivered a convincing performance in 2008, outperforming the
sector and prompting us to realize some of our profits. We slightly
increased the weighting of our core holding Fresenius (16%) and
reduced our exposure to Tecan (11%) and Galenica (4%). Millipore was
divested. The participation in privately held Vascular Innovation was
written off due to the company's liquidity situation and the
difficult financing conditions start-up companies are now confronted
with.
As at December 31, 76% of BB MEDTECH's assets were invested. The high
cash allocation is a reflection of the portfolio realignment process
as well as the general uncertainty in the market. Last year revealed
that not every sub-sector of the global medtech market is immune to
macroeconomic cycles. Nevertheless, we are confident that the current
weakness on stock markets also offers opportunities to profit from
historically low valuation levels and selectively add positions in
attractive, fundamentally sound medtech companies to our portfolio in
the coming months.
We remain convinced that the medical technology market offers
investors above-average returns over the long term driven by
demographic developments and innovation. BB MEDTECH's share price
gained +104% (incl. dividends) between early 2000 and the end of 2008
and we are optimistic that we will sustain this trend for our
shareholders in 2009.
The composition of BB MEDTECH's portfolio as at December 31, 2008 is
the following (in % of shareholders' equity, rounded values):
Qiagen 20.4%
Fresenius preferred shares 12.8%
Fresenius common shares 2.8%
Tecan 10.6%
Masimo 6.6%
Celera 4.8%
Mindray 4.6%
Illumina 4.5%
Galenica 3.7%
Carl Zeiss Meditec 2.3%
Epigenomics 1.1%
Axis-Shield 0.9%
Optos 0.7%
Vascular Innovation preferred shares1) <0.1%
SWAP agreement on treasury shares <0.1%
Total securities CHF 392.0 mn 75.7%
Liquid funds (net) CHF 199.2 mn 38.5%
Other assets CHF 10.7 mn 2.1%
Other payables CHF (84.1) mn (16.2%)
Total shareholders' equity CHF 517.8 mn 100.0%
Own shares (in % of company) 22.0%
1) unlisted company
The complete Annual Report 2008 will be available on March 5, 2009
under www.bbmedtech.com
For further information please contact:
Bellevue Asset Management AG, Seestrasse 16/P.O. Box, CH-8700
Kusnacht/Zurich
Thomas Egger or Anja Stubenrauch, phone +41 44 267 67 00
Company profile
BB MEDTECH acquires shares in companies in the growth market of
medical technology. BB MEDTECH is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange
and in
Germany. The focus of the shareholdings is on listed companies that
are taking on a market leadership role in their area of activities
and demonstrate sustained turnover and income potential. For its
selection of holdings, BB MEDTECH relies on fundamental analysis by
industry experts. The Board of Directors has many years of industrial
and scientific experience behind it.
--- End of Message ---
BB MEDTECH AG
Vordergasse 3 Schaffhausen Switzerland
WKN: AONFN4;
ISIN: CH0038390016; Index: IGSP;
Listed: Investment Companies in SIX Swiss Exchange;
http://hugin.info/130286/R/1285685/288372.pdf
Copyright © Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.