The group's revenues grow by almost 12 % in 2010. Investments in R&D and new production technologies lead to an increase in sales. The outlook is also positive for the current year.

BAD KREUZNACH, 8 June 2011. -- Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH from Bad Kreuznach and its subsidiaries are on a growth path. Total revenues were up by 11.7 % in 2010 over the previous year, totaling 86.6 million euros. The company's operations at its Bad Kreuznach headquarters contributed 48.8 million euros to total revenues (20.1 % higher than in 2009), a particularly pleasing result. Both figures exceed the revenues the Group achieved before the general economic crisis. "This is an ongoing trend; we expect a positive development in the current year, too," says Dr. Josef Staub, CEO of the Schneider Group.

In recent years, the company has stepped up its investments in the development of new products and production plants as well as in its core team. That is now paying off. The company's site in Bad Kreuznach has returned to three-shift operation. Thanks to new production technologies, the company is now able to make even more precise lenses, thus securing its competitive edge. Demand has risen in the area of industrial solutions in particular, mainly thanks to a new generation of lenses for surface inspection used especially in the capital goods industry to monitor production. "The decision to push innovation was right. We intend to expand our position on the international markets and further intensify our sales activities to achieve this," says Dr. Josef Staub. The group's key customers are currently in Asia.

The installation of a systematic innovation process has given the company an additional stimulus. The group aims to benefit above all from the growing market for mirrorless system cameras in the area of photography, from 3D technology in cinema projection in the field of entertainment, and from the demand for high-precision measurement systems, special illumination and medical technology, as well as lens technology, in the area of industrial optics. The company sees growth opportunities in the fields of new energy technologies and the preservation of resources. Schneider-Kreuznach products are already being used here, for example lenses in solar technology and special valves in the production process for wind turbine rotors.

About the Schneider Group:
The Schneider Group specializes in developing and producing high-performance photographic lenses, cinema projection lenses, as well as industrial optics and precision mechanics. The group comprises Jos. Schneider Optische Werke, founded in Bad Kreuznach in 1913, and its subsidiaries Pentacon (Dresden), Schneider Kreuznach Isco Division (Göttingen), Schneider-Optics (New York, Los Angeles), Schneider Bando (Seoul), Schneider Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) and Schneider Optical Technologies (Shenzhen). The company's main brand is "Schneider-Kreuznach". It has around 660 employees worldwide, with 360 based in its German headquarters. For years now the group has been a world market leader in the area of high-performance lenses.