SMARTRAC’s preliminary results for the second quarter and the first half of 2008 show a growth in profits for the period.

Total sales for the period January to June 2008 were 49.6 million euros, a 22% increase on the first six months of 2007. EBITDA was 11.5 million euros, an increase of 10.6% on the previous year’s figure of 10.4 million euros.

SMARTRAC says its overall business developed as expected between April and June 2008. In the second quarter of 2008, the company achieved sales of 22.5 million euros, an increase on 2007’s second quarter figures of 21.2 million euros. Its EBITDA for the quarter was 4.6 million euros, down from last year’s 5.6 million euros. According to SMARTRAC, this decline was mainly driven by ramp-up costs for new product lines and by a temporary decrease in ePassport sales, which had already been announced.

On the basis of a stronger second half of the year, SMARTRAC has confirmed its 2008 sales target and says it is confident of reaching total sales of 124 million euros. EBITDA is expected to increase to 27 million euros for the full year.

The company says it is building up its manufacturing facility in Malaysia to produce RFID inlays for mass transit market eTickets.  It says it is also on track to launch new products for animal identification and logistics. It adds: “The new products are currently being introduced into the market and will start to contribute to overall sales from the second half of 2008 onwards.”

SMARTRAC has allocated its eID RFID components and ePayment applications to its High Security segment. The company says it was chosen to supply RFID inlays for major ePassport projects by a number of countries earlier this year. As a consequence, it was able to further increase its share of the global market in this key segment of the RFID industry.

SMARTRAC says it is currently ramping up its high-security production facility in the US state of Minnesota, which will manufacture the RFID inlays for the US ePassport.