Leica Plc yesterday announced the figures for its last full year of trading under the Cambridge Instruments name: in future it will be reporting under its present name of Leica Plc, and its results will include a hefty contribution from Wild Leitz AG, the Swiss manufacturer of scientific and optical instruments among them the Leica lens – with which Cambridge finally merged in April (CI No 1,407). With pre-tax profits and turnover for the year to March 31 1989 only marginally up, the Cambridge colours did not exactly go out with a flash: chairman Terence Gooding nonetheless described them as good, and stated that business had been adversely affected by a six month delay in completing the merger because of a US Department of Justice monopoly review. Earnings per share were also down, but Cambridge shareholders, who were said to have unanimously approved the deal, were rewarded with a final dividend up seven pence to 68 pence. The merger, which will mean the resignation of two Cambridge Instruments directors to make room on the board for representatives from the Swiss firm, will make the newly-formed Leica a UKP500m-a-year company, with combined net profit of over UKP130 based on last year’s performance. Leica shares fell a penny to 56 pence after the announcement.
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