It is reported that German laser companies have announced the first half of the 2018 financial report, revenue of 384.7 million euros, an increase of 10.4%; pre-tax income of 56.3 million euros, an increase of 31.4%.
Stefan Traeger, CEO and CEO of Jenoptik Executive Board, said: “All group segments have contributed significantly to the company’s growth in the first half of the year, and major market demand remains strong. On this basis, with the successful acquisition of Prodomax Automation in Canada As well as the initial steps taken to restructure the Asian business, we are confident in the performance in the second half of the year. Therefore, we increased our revenue forecast to 8.05 to 820 million Euros in July. The management has now raised the profit target of the 2018 integrated business. Up to approximately 15% of EBITDA and approximately 11% of EBIT, including the impact of the purchase price allocation."
The revenue growth in the first half of the year was attributed to “the strong demand for the green laser pointer optical system in the semiconductor equipment industry and the continued good demand for corporate systems in the healthcare and industrial sectors.”
As for the German market, total revenue was 125 million euros (compared to 98.6 million euros in the same period last year), an increase of 27.4%. The revenue of the entire European market also increased by 15.7%. Overall, overseas market revenue accounted for 67.4%, compared with 71.7% in the same period last year.
In the first half of 2018, the company's EBIT growth rate was higher than the revenue. Turnover was 42.8 million euros, an increase of 46.1% compared to 29.3 million euros in the same period last year. In addition to revenue growth, the company's performance growth was mainly due to a more favorable product mix and relatively low functional cost growth.
The EBIT margin was 11.1%, significantly higher than the 8.4% in the same period last year. EBITDA increased by 31.4% to 56.3 million euros (previous year: 42.8 million euros).
New orders in the second quarter increased by 7.2% to 197.9 million euros (compared to 184.7 million euros in the same period last year). In the first six months of the financial year, orders revenue was 397.2 million euros, down 2.0% from 405.3 million euros in the same period last year.
Free cash flow increased to 28.8 million euros in the first half of the year, compared to 22.1 million euros in the same period last year. The shareholder equity ratio was 59.4%, which was at the same level as the end of 2017 (59.6%). In addition, despite the high dividend payout, the Group achieved a net liability of €63.3 million at the end of the reporting period (compared with €69 million in 2017).
In the first six months of 2018, the optical and life sciences sector saw a significant increase of 11.7% to 139.5 million euros (previous year: 124.9 million euros). As with the previous episodes, this trend is mainly due to the continued growth of the health business of the semiconductor green laser pointer equipment industry and the positive development of the healthcare and industrial sectors.
Mobile revenues increased by 17.6% year-on-year in the first six months of 2018, reaching €138.5 million (previous year: €117.8 million).
The defense and civil systems sector generated revenue of 108.2 million euros (previous year: 105.4 million euros), an increase of 2.7%. Earnings before interest and taxes increased from 9 million euros last year to 9.5 million euros, an increase of 5.7%. During the reporting period, the EBIT margin rose to 8.8% (compared with 8.5% in the same period last year).