Viscom AG achieves solid business performance in difficult market environment

Incoming orders: € 79,525 thousand (previous year: € 98,750 thousand, -19.5%)
Revenue: € 88,556 thousand (previous year: € 93,557 thousand, -5.3%)
EBIT-Margin: 4.5 % (previous year: 11.7 %)
Dividend proposal: € 0.05 per dividend-bearing share

Hanover, 9 April 2020 - Viscom AG (ISIN DE0007846867), the European market leader for automated optical inspection systems in the electronics industry, achieved the lowered revenue target in the 2019 financial year. However, operating profit fell slightly short of the stated annual forecast.

Viscom AG was unable to escape the general development of the global economy in the past financial year. Considerably weaker than expected global industrial production diminished Viscom AG's volume and margin performance. Declining growth, especially in the automotive industry, likewise had a negative impact on business. This is why the mechanical engineering firm from Lower Saxony's cumulative revenue of around € 88.6 million failed to build on the continuous revenue growth recorded in recent years. Nevertheless, the Group achieved the management's defined revenue target of € 85-94 million in the 2019 financial year. Industrial development was significantly weaker than anticipated, particularly in the automotive sector, resulting in a reluctance to invest on the part of Viscom's customers in the automotive supply sector, while earnings performance was also negatively affected by global price pressure. The EBIT-Margin of 4.5 % was only just below the forecast for the year of 5-9 %. Earnings were also substantially impacted by the decline in total operating revenue coupled with higher staff costs.

At € 79,525 thousand, incoming orders in the 2019 financial year were down on the prior-year level (previous year: € 98,750 thousand). In particular, this decline of 19.5 % resulted from lower order volumes from major existing customers in addition to the slowdown in global economic growth and industrial production. The order backlog was € 15,939 thousand as at the end of the year, a decline of around 36.2 % as against the previous year (€ 24,970 thousand).

Europe was by far the strongest regional market, accounting for around 64 % of the Viscom Group's revenue. The propensity to invest among Viscom's customers on its home market of Germany can be described as consistently high. Germany therefore continued to be an important sales market for Viscom in 2019. Revenue in Germany amounted to € 29,233 thousand, up around 6 % on the prior-year figure of € 27,689 thousand. In the rest of Europe, revenue fell by around 5 % year-on-year to € 27,335 thousand (previous year: € 28,800 thousand). These developments in Germany and the rest of Europe caused segment revenue to remain stable year-on-year at € 56,568 thousand (previous year: € 56,489 thousand). In particular, the decline in total operating revenue coupled with higher staff costs resulted in segment earnings falling by around 62 % to € 3,075 thousand (before IFRS 16: € 2,963 thousand; previous year: € 8,081 thousand).

In the Americas region, there was good demand in Mexico, the US and Canada in the 2019 financial year. The automotive supply industry was defined by fluctuating investment propensity, while demand from Viscom customers remained high in other sectors. As a result, revenue in the Americas region was up by around 24 % year-on-year at € 13,311 thousand (€ 10,771 thousand). At € 350 thousand, segment earnings were around 49 % lower than in the previous year (before IFRS 16: € 343 thousand; € 689 thousand).

Thanks to intensive sales activities, Viscom reported in the Asia region a double-digit number of new customers and maintained its market share with X7056 inspection systems in the 2019 financial year. In particular, the new customers include a number of companies of regional or local customers from the mobile communications and electromobility segments. By contrast, national customers were hesitant to proceed with previously announced investments or shifted some orders to other regions. System business especially, and in particular X-ray operations, suffered under increased competitive and margin pressure. Revenue in the Asia region declined by around 29 %, from € 26,297 thousand in 2018 to € 18,677 thousand in 2019. At € 573 thousand, segment earnings were lower than in the previous year (before IFRS 16: € 565 thousand; € 2,385 thousand).

As one of the technology leaders for optical and X-ray inspection systems for use in industrial electronics production, Viscom AG presented several new developments in the past year. The focus was on smart factory solutions that minimize cycle time, increase process efficiency and prevent defects, thus ensuring greater safety and reliability in SMT production. This requires innovations such as AI-assisted verification, ultra-fast inspection speeds and the seamless, high-precision defect inspection of sophisticated assemblies. In addition, trends and developments such as e-mobility, 5G, the increased use of LEDs and special high-performance electronics require new inspection solutions.

In light of the expected momentum of the global market for energy storage technologies, the Viscom Group has expanded its wide range of offline and inline X-ray inspection systems to include a further innovation: Developed specifically for the most sophisticated high-performance electronics and components for e-mobility and renewable energy, the new X8068 SL inline system enables fully automated inspections of large and solid inspection objects, for example.

With the X7056-II EP (Energy Storage Inspection Products) inspection system, there is already a variant of the X7056-II for inspecting battery cells. The number of systems ordered for inspecting button cells alone has already reached the double digits. These systems achieve higher resolution, and hence accuracy, allowing measurement tasks to also be performed when inspecting distances between anodes and cathodes. A growing number of customers want to check compliance with defined tolerances in order to prevent short circuits in battery cells.

A key area of development work in 2020 will be to implement these button cell inspection solutions for other types of battery cell. Development work will concentrate on rapid imaging and the handling of battery cells, both of which have an impact on the electromechanical design of the inspection system. Round cells are rod-shaped cells that are considerably longer than button cells and that have a bigger diameter. These formats are used in some electric vehicles. Pouch cells are flat battery cells that are used in applications such as smartphones, notebooks and electric vehicles. In order to also broaden Viscom AG's positioning beyond the automotive industry, the EP (Energy Storage Inspection Products) focus area with a particular emphasis on battery inspection has been established at Viscom.

A number of countries have now seen the imposition of restrictions on movement and an extensive shutdown of public life. Major manufacturers have suspended production at their plants in Germany and around the world. The effectiveness of these measures will determine the duration and extent of the economic impact on the electronics industry, and hence on Viscom. Viscom AG's management is making estimates about how things will progress and monitoring events extremely closely.

Looking through the fog of the current situation to get an idea of how things will develop in the medium term, one positive aspect is undoubtedly that the need for electronic products will increase in all areas of life. The crisis will lead to above-average growth in demand for data technology and medical technology products. 3C and energy storage products and devices for sustainable energy generation and conversion will account for a bigger share of Viscom's business. As drive technologies are transformed, mobility and, in particular, automotive electronics will remain a key market, in which Viscom AG intends to generate further growth with innovative inspection systems.

The forecast for the current year is subject to a great deal of uncertainty. The development of incoming orders and revenue in 2020 will largely depend on the overall economic situation, particularly in the automotive industry, and how things proceed in terms of the coronavirus crisis. Viscom anticipates budgeted revenue and incoming orders of € 65 to € 80 million in 2020. The EBIT-Margin for the 2020 financial year is likely to be between -7.7 % and +2.5 %, with EBIT of between € -5.0 million and € +2.0 million. To achieve the forecast for the year, Viscom AG will make extensive cost reductions that will ensure the key technical developments required by the situation as well as readiness to win orders. This activity will focus on protecting the health of all employees, meeting delivery obligations, and supporting customers and hence the well-being of Viscom AG. Viscom expects to see a sharp economic downturn this year with catch-up effects on the customer side. The company believes it is well positioned to return to sustainable and profitable growth following the crisis.

The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Viscom AG will propose a dividend of € 0.05 per dividend-bearing share to the Annual General Meeting on 9 June 2020. The proposal to pay a reduced dividend for the 2019 financial year and to carry forward the remaining amount to new account are intended to ensure that Viscom AG's financial position and liquidity remain solid moving forward. This does not affect the Group's fundamental dividend policy of distributing 50 % of Group net profit.

Viscom AG's 2019 Annual Report is available now under Investor Relations at /europe.

Any forecasts, expectations or statements concerning the future included in this release may be subject to risks or uncertainties. We thus cannot guarantee that the expectations will prove to be accurate. Actual results and performance may differ significantly from the expectations and assumptions expressed here. Factors that may result in these differences include changes to the general economic environment and the competitive situation, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations and changes to national and international legislation. The company is not obliged to update the statements included in this release.
KEY GROUP FIGURES

*Dividend proposal of € 0.05 per dividend-bearing share for the 2019 financial year

SEGMENT INFORMATION

* in consideration of consolidation differences