A piece in Wednesday's Liberation about Leica's results.

Turnover for the year is down 17% at 119 million Euros (about $142Million). Losses are 3.4 million Euros but this is because of a lay-off plan which will cost 8.5million Euros over two years and further reduce the workforce (1120 today down from 1400 18 months ago).

Leica sold 20000 digital cameras last year, representing about 25% of turnover. As photo products become more like electronic goods with the entry of Sony and Panasonic in the marketplace, Leica's way out seems to be to reduce the number of outlets and preserve their niche by going upmarket.

Leica should announce a new camera at Photokina in October which can be transformed from a film camera to a numeric camera in less than a minute.

Charles