CHALLENGING FOURTH QUARTER FOR SIMTRONICS

Simtronics ASA, the Norwegian fire and gas safety company, today posted its fourth quarter and full year 2009 results. The Company experienced a challenging market and had to book significant restructuring costs. For the full year Simtronics posted a loss of NOK 43.4 million. “In the fourth quarter our customers have postponed a number of projects. In addition, the ship building industry is still in a crisis. In total, this has given us a weak fourth quarter result. We do however maintain a satisfactory order backlog and expect the market to loosen somewhat in 2010,” said Simtronics’ CEO Rune Martini. Simtronics posted sales of NOK 63.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, a reduction of 33 per cent from the same quarter the previous year. The fourth quarter numbers include non-recurring costs of NOK 6.5 million related to restructuring of the Group’s activities in Kristiansand, Norway and shut-down of the Korea branch. EBITDA for the fourth quarter came in at NOK -14.9 million, down from NOK 8.2 million the previous year. Earnings before taxes in the quarter were NOK-22.0 million, down from NOK 2.2 million. For the entire year of 2009 Simtronics’ sales were NOK 288.5 million, which is a 20 per cent decline from the previous year. EBITDA for the year was NOK -19.7 million, compared to NOK 34.6 million in 2008. Earnings before taxes came in at NOK -43.4 million last year, down from NOK 16.7 million. Simtronics sales were down across all major markets in 2009. One area of positive development was the sales development in the Middle East, where Simtronics secured a number of contracts and also made its first fire extinguishing systems sale in the region. The Company’s order backlog remained satisfactory in the fourth quarter. At year-end the order backlog stood at NOK 181 million, which is slightly below the two previous quarters. “We expect reduced demand in the short term. We will however see that projects postponed in the last half of 2009 will surface in the first half of 2010. The order backlog is an indication of this. We will move forward with caution and we have initiated an extensive cost reduction programme for the next few months,” Simtronics’ CEO Rune Martini said. For further information, please contact: Mr Rune Martini, CEO, Simtronics ASA Phone +47 48 07 80 80 www.simtronics.eu Simtronics ASA (Oslo Stock Exchange: SIMTRO) works to prevent disasters from happening. The company is an international supplier of fire and gas safety systems, active fire fighting solutions and fire prevention systems. Simtronics' flame and gas detectors represent the most accurate, reliable and robust safety technology available. The Company's products, solutions and systems are used by the oil and gas industry as well as in shipping, petrochemical and other process industries and in mining. Simtronics has a well established market base in Europe with Norway, France, UK and Germany as the single most important markets. Simtronics' heritage goes back to 1948.

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