Viscom AG continues positive revenue development. Management confirms annual forecast for 2016.
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DGAP-News: Viscom AG / Key word(s): 9-month figures/Interim Report Viscom AG continues positive revenue development. - Incoming orders: EUR 57,334 thousand (previous year: EUR 47,804 thousand, +19.9 %) Hanover, 14 November 2016 - Viscom AG (ISIN DE0007846867) continued to successfully reinforce its position on the market with its products and services in the third quarter, carrying forward with the positive revenue development it recorded in the previous quarters. Thanks in particular to its strong positioning in the areas of 3D AOI and X-ray inspection, Viscom was able to win over further existing and new customers across a wide range of benchmarks, including in direct comparison with its strong peer group. This helped it to record revenue growth of around 7 percent as at the end of the quarter. Incoming orders were up around 20 % year-on-year after the first nine months of the current financial year, while orders on hand increased by almost 28 %. There are currently no signs of a slowdown in demand for inspection systems; instead, the Group continued to benefit from the steady rise in customer interest in 3D inspection in particular. Viscom is also seeing growing demand for its manual X-ray inspection system. This boasts the best image quality for maximum magnification and offers significant potential for the Group's product range in the era of Industry 4.0 thanks, in particular, to its intelligent integration with other Viscom inspection gates as part of a closed-loop network. Increased customer demand for product demonstrations is also being observed. The Viscom Group has again succeeded in setting new records and demonstrating that its strategic approach of seeking to continuously and sustainably expand its global market position while increasing brand awareness is the right one. As in the first half of 2016, the necessary expansion of the workforce in the areas of production, sales and service in order to enable further growth in the coming years and the salary increases during the course of the year meant that personnel costs were higher than in the same period of the previous year. Lower currency effects also led to a reduction in other operating income, while other operating expenses increased primarily as a result of the higher level of administrative and selling expenses. This was attributable to renovation and modernisation measures in connection with the workforce expansion, as well as trade fair appearances. These factors meant that EBIT was down around 22 % year-on-year at EUR 4,110 thousand. At 8.1 %, the EBIT-Margin was therefore lower than the prior-year figure of 11.1 %. Net profit for the period declined from EUR 3,201 thousand in the previous year to EUR 2,690 thousand. The effects discussed under operating profit also had an impact on net profit for the period. In addition, individual tax transactions and payments for previous years had a negative effect on the tax burden, and hence also on net profit for the period. Europe was the Viscom Group's strongest region by some distance, generating revenue of EUR 33,174 thousand in the first nine months of the 2016 financial year (previous year: EUR 29,647 thousand) and accounting for around 65 % of total revenue. Revenue increased by around 12 % as against the previous year. This meant that the increased processing of orders received benefited primarily the Europe segment. Revenue in Germany amounted to EUR 13,837 thousand (previous year: EUR 12,909 thousand). Segment results in Europe amounted to EUR 3,220 thousand (previous year: EUR 4,084 thousand), which corresponds to a margin of 9.7 % (previous year: 13.8 %). This year-on-year decrease was attributable primarily to the higher level of personnel costs as discussed under operating profit, which related mainly to the Europe segment. At an encouraging EUR 37,600 thousand, incoming orders were up significantly on the same period of the previous year (EUR 30,026 thousand). Revenue in the Americas region was down around 14 % year-on-year at EUR 7,228 thousand (previous year: EUR 8,419 thousand), largely as a result of the more moderate level of incoming orders in the previous months. This had a corresponding impact on segment earnings, which were lower than in the same period of the previous year at EUR 411 thousand (previous year: EUR 761 thousand). In line with this development, the EBIT-Margin amounted to 5.7 % (previous year: 9.0 %). At EUR 8,224 thousand, incoming orders in the region were around 12 % lower than in the previous year (EUR 9,310 thousand). Small and medium-sized service providers (EMS) in the USA are subject to considerable price pressure as a result of competition with Mexican and Asian providers, and only certain elements of the industry are currently willing to make investments. At EUR 10,373 thousand, consolidated revenue in Asia was up around 10 % on the figure for the same period of the previous year (EUR 9,410 thousand). Segment earnings in the Asia region amounted to EUR 513 thousand (previous year: EUR 873 thousand), corresponding to an EBIT-Margin of 4.9 % (previous year: 9.3 %). This decrease was due to the revenue structure and the price-sensitivity of the markets. However, as the modular nature of Viscom's systems means that customers can use them over a long period by upgrading them with state-of-the-art sensor technology, earnings contributions from service and system upgrade business are expected to increase significantly in the fourth quarter. With incoming orders up around 36 % year-on-year to EUR 11,510 thousand (previous year: EUR 8,468 thousand), the outlook for the fourth quarter is positive. This development is driven in particular by the advanced driver assistance systems that auto manufacturers are including in their new model series. However, Viscom is also seeking to benefit from the extensive evaluations that are being conducted in the computer, communication & consumer (3C) sector and, in particular, the mobile devices segment. With the right technologies and its globally oriented structures and strategies, the Viscom Group is well positioned to continue on its growth path. In light of the Group's extremely good order situation, the management is confident that it will comfortably achieve its targets for the 2016 financial year. The Interim Report 9M/2016 is now available in the Investor Relations section of Viscom's website at www.viscom.de. OPERATING FIGURES
SEGMENT INFORMATION
Where this release contains forecasts, expectations, or forward-looking statements, these statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties. We therefore cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be accurate. Actual results and developments may deviate significantly from the expectations and assumptions expressed. The factors causing such deviations may include changes in the general economic situation and the competitive environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, and changes to national and international legislation. The Company assumes no obligation to update the statements contained in this release. Contact: Viscom AG Investor Relations Anna Borkowski Carl-Buderus-Str. 9-15 30455 Hannover Tel.: +49-511-94996-861 Fax: +49-511-94996-555 investor.relations@viscom.de
2016-11-14 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |
| Language: | English | |
| Company: | Viscom AG | |
| Carl-Buderus-Strasse 9-15 | ||
| 30455 Hannover | ||
| Germany | ||
| Phone: | +49 (0) 511 94 996 861 | |
| Fax: | +49 (0) 511 94 996 555 | |
| E-mail: | investor.relations@viscom.de | |
| Internet: | www.viscom.de | |
| ISIN: | DE0007846867 | |
| WKN: | 784686 | |
| Listed: | Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hanover; Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange | |
| End of News | DGAP News Service |