According to provisional calculations, Jenoptik’s 2012 Group operating result rose by approximately 10% to more than EUR 54 million. With an increase of more than 20%, earnings before tax rose to more than EUR 45 million. Sales increased to approximately EUR 585 million. In 2013 the company expects sales to show a small rise, a stable operative result and investments in growth.
In 2012 the Jenoptik Group successfully continued on its path of growth. “We’ve clearly achieved our objectives despite the general economic uncertainties. Our strategy of continued internationalization and improved cost structures showed positive effects and led to an increase in profitability,” said Jenoptik Chairman Michael Mertin, summing up the past fiscal year.
According to provisional calculations, sales for the full year 2012 will come in at around EUR 585 million. This equates to an increase of almost 8% compared with the previous year’s figure of EUR 543.3 million. The Jenoptik Group reported strong growth especially in America and Asia. According to provisional calculations the Group operating result rose to more than EUR 54 million. With an increase of approximately 10%, the EBIT consequently showed a stronger rate of growth than sales. The EBIT margin, which rose to more than 9%, is again in the target range. The main contribution to the growth in sales and earnings came from the Metrology segment. The improvement in the Group EBIT was also reflected in the earnings before tax (EBT), which rose by more than 20% to over EUR 45 million based on provisional calculations (previous year EUR 34.9 million). “This is a higher growth rate compared with the EBIT. Thanks to the improvement in the net interest result and low tax quota we also expect the net income for the year to report a stronger rise than the operating result,” said Chief Financial Officer Rüdiger Andreas Günther, commenting on the results for the 2012 fiscal year.
Order intake at the same level as sales. Jenoptik won several major orders.
In the 2012 fiscal year the Jenoptik Group received new orders totalling around EUR 585 million. According to provisional calculations the order intake was at the same level as sales but did not repeat the previous year’s high figure of EUR 647.9 million. The Group also won several major orders in 2012, including the order for traffic safety technology from Malaysia and Oman, as well as for medical lasers from the US and for metrology. The order intake in the previous year was characterized by two large partial orders for the PUMA armoured fighting vehicle, together worth more than EUR 70 million.
As at the end of 2012 the order backlog of the Jenoptik Group came to more than EUR 445 million and thus remained at the high level of the past year (31.12.2011: EUR 448.5 million).
Despite increasingly difficult market conditions, the Lasers & Optical Systems segment essentially continued to show a positive performance. The development of business in the optical systems area, particularly in the fourth quarter, was influenced by the dip in the semiconductor industry. The segment posted sales of approximately EUR 210 million (previous year EUR 217.1 million). “Also in 2012 we were increasingly successful in winning over major customers from the flat-panel, automotive and life sciences industry. This helped us to better offset the falls in business from the semiconductor industry,” said Michael Mertin. Increases in the segment’s sales came from the Optoelectronics Systems and Optics business units. The EBIT is expected to come to approximately EUR 27 million (previous year EUR 29.2 million).
The Metrology segment benefited from a continuing good level of demand from the automotive industry as a result of the global trend towards fuel-saving and low-emission engines, as well as deliveries for major orders in the area of traffic safety solutions. With sales of more than EUR 180 million (previous year EUR 140.1 million), the segment achieved a new sales record according to provisional calculations. This is also reflected in the EBIT, which doubled to approximately EUR 25 million according to provisional calculations (previous year EUR 12.0 million).
The business in the Defense & Civil Systems segment is stable and oriented towards the long-term. Sales are expected to total more than EUR 180 million (previous year EUR 183.3 million). The main contributions to the growth in sales came from the Energy Systems business unit. The EBIT fell to almost EUR 8 million as a result, among other things, of initial costs for the site optimization (previous year EUR 11.6 million).
Further improvement in the financial indicators. Net debt again reduced.
The key financial indicators showed a further improvement in the fiscal year just passed. Net debt was reduced slightly to approximately EUR 75 million (previous year EUR 77.1 million). “So despite the expansion of business, payment of a dividend and payments to silent real estate investors, we achieved our objective of a further reduction in net debt. The total debt of the Group, however, reduced even more,” commented Rüdiger Andreas Günther.
Target for 2013 regards the optimization of internal structures and preparing for continued steep growth in 2014/15.
The Jenoptik Group reported strong growth over the past three years and this course of profitable growth is also expected to continue in the future. In 2013 the Group intends to invest in the further expansion of its sales structures and innovative products as well as to further improve internal processes. To this end it will consistently continue with a range of projects such as the initiatives for process harmonization and excellence – both in its operating business as well as in its systems and business processes. “We, so to speak, undergo a demanding training programme which will help us to continue to achieve top performance in the global competition,” summarizes Rüdiger Andreas Günther. In addition, Jenoptik is concentrating its optics manufacturing in North America at one location. In future the manufacture of energy systems will be concentrated at two German sites. These steps are intended to help further strengthen the earnings power and even better exploit synergy potential. With its products the Group will also benefit from future-oriented mega-trends in the areas of energy efficiency, security, health, mobility as well as the increasing digitalization all over the world.
In a more difficult economic climate Jenoptik currently anticipates a small rise in sales of up to 5% in the 2013 fiscal year. In regional terms this growth is mainly expected to come from America and Asia/Pacific. Depending upon the course of the semiconductor cycle, particularly in the second half of 2013, the EBIT generated in the operating business should come in at between EUR 50 and 55 million. The costs for the above-mentioned projects and site optimizations in the middle single-digit million euro range will also impact on the EBIT.
“We will consistently pursue our long-term strategic agenda. With the improved internal processes we are creating the springboard for ourselves to achieve the growth from 2014. The substantial investments will help us to achieve higher excellence in 2013 and maintain our earnings quality,” said Jenoptik Chairman Michael Mertin. The Jenoptik Group also expects to achieve profitable growth over the coming years and an average EBIT margin of around 9 to 10%, as well as sales growth of approximately 10% over the course of the market cycles. Once again the sales target is expected to primarily be achieved through organic growth. In the context of its mid-term planning up to 2017 Jenoptik will be striving to increase sales to approximately EUR 800 million and grow the share of sales in America and Asia/Pacific jointly to more than 40% of Group sales.