Aug. 30 – “Light is energy that creates forms.” The Elen Group, leader in Italy in the laser market, chose one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous sentences to express their vision and welcome visitors to their website. And Leonardo’s “genius” seems to have really had an influence on Elen, one of the first operators in Europe and in the world in the field. Yesterday, the company’s board, listed on the Star segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, approved the consolidated interim report at 30 June 2013. “In the first half of 2013 – said the company – the group recorded a consolidated turnover of € 73.8 million, in line with revenues (€74.8 million) in the first half of 2012 and net-income of €1.3 million, in slight decrease compared to the €1.6 million euro of June 2012, due to Cynosure’s results.” The company overall considers the “half-year results, though not significantly improving over those of 2012, far from contemptible.” A number of international factors affect the results: “The circumstances, we originally anticipated having a negative impact on turnover and operating profit (€ 3.7 million compared to 3.8 million at 30 June 2012), concretized: the depreciation of the Japanese currency hurts sales and margins in one of the most important markets in the medical field; the processing phase of certain production or distribution functions (in China, Brazil and the United States) registered lower revenues and transition costs; the crisis in Italy and in Europe affects our customers; and market stagnation exacerbated the general difficulty in raising funds for investment.” In these hardships the group achieved “appreciable” results in Italy, where sales saw a double-digit growth thanks to professional systems for industrial and surgical, such as urology; systems for aesthetic applications, such as pigmented lesions, hair and tattoo removal. And there are further optimist signs for the second half of the year. “In the second quarter, the delay on the sales and operating achievement roadmap will be reduced, with sales expected to grow 5 % (and 10% with the overall improvement of the economy). Despite the unfavorable conditions in some of the markets – said the company – we still have within our reach the objectives set for 2013.”