11/12/2012 07:50:00 CET
- Positive trend in the Display and Battery business units partly compensates decline in revenues and earnings in the Solar segment
- Revenues up 21% in the Display business unit
- Further tailwind for 2013 due to major order in the Display segment
- Solar sector's reticence to invest burdens overall revenue and earnings
Manz AG, one of the world's leading high-tech engineering companies with an extensive technology portfolio covering the three strategic business units of "Display", "Solar" and "Battery", has today published its results as of September 30, 2012. The company generated EUR 147.7 million of revenues in the first nine months of 2012, compared with EUR 192.0 million in the prior-year period, reflecting a 23.1% decline. Total operating revenues fell by 28% and amounted to EUR 157.0 million in the first three quarters, following EUR 218.0 million in the previous year. In particular, the low level of new order intake in the preceding quarter, and an almost complete absence of new investments by solar sector companies, fed through to declining revenue and earnings contributions in the third quarter of 2012. Gross margin countered this trend due to the positive development in the Display and Battery segments, reporting an 11.3% increase to EUR 91.0 million in the first nine months of 2012 (previous year: EUR 81.7 million). Due to the deterioration in market conditions described above, the company reported negative earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of EUR -3.5 million at the end of the first nine months of 2012 (previous year: + EUR 3.8 million).
On the latest results, Dieter Manz, CEO of Manz AG, further points out as follows: "Over the last few years, we have successfully further developed our company from an automation specialist into a supplier of integrated production solutions. We have successfully diversified our business model with our strategic segments Display and Battery. The positive order situation in both segments has allowed us to partly compensate the revenues and earnings declines in the Solar segment. With an approximately 21% year-on-year revenue increase the Display segment has developed very positively. The major order of around EUR 20.8 million which we won in early November the Display segment provides us with a tailwind for 2013. The Battery segment also continues to develop positively, and current orders in the fourth quarter also lead us to expect significant year-on-year revenue growth."
The Display business unit was the major revenue driver in the period under review, reporting EUR 94.0 million of revenues (previous year: EUR 77.7 million), and representing a 63.6% share of total revenues. In this context, free production capacities in the Solar segment were utilised to realize orders and thereby optimising capacity utilisation. In its Solar business unit, Manz AG recorded a significant year-on-year decline in revenues to EUR 14.9 million (previous year: EUR 57.9 million), reflecting a 10.7% share of total revenues, after 30.2% in the prior year. At EUR 6.2 million, revenues generated by production facilities for lithium-ion batteries in the Battery business unit were still approximately at the previous year's level (previous year: EUR 6.4 million), although their share of total revenues rose to 4.2%, compared with 3.6% in the previous year.
After taking into account the financial result of EUR -1.1 million (previous year: EUR -0.5 million), the negative EBIT of EUR -3.5 million in the first three quarters of 2012 (previous year: + EUR 3.8 million) fed through to earnings before tax (EBT) of around EUR -4.6 million, following EUR 3.2 million in the comparable period of the previous year.
Although Dieter Manz regards the dampened expectations at the end of the first half of 2012 as having been confirmed, he takes a confident view of the coming fiscal year: "Due to the weak revenue and earnings trend in the third quarter, we currently do not expect to achieve the originally set targets for the full year of a previous year's revenues level. In view of current negotiations in the Display segment on a further order which comprises a double-digit amount in millions of euros it will take a few weeks to issue precise revenue and earnings forecast for the full year. Nevertheless, due to our good position in the business units Display, Solar and Battery we are confident that with an increasing willing to invest during the coming year we will return to revenue and earnings growth in all business units."
The complete 2012 nine-month report can be downloaded from today at the company's website at www.manz.com, within the "Investor Relations" area.
