Sales increased 47% in Q3 for Aspocomp

Aspocomp's sales in the third quarter increased by 47% compared to the previous year, amounting to EUR 5.6 million (EUR 3.8 million 7-9/2015). In January-September 2016, net sales increased by 18% compared with the corresponding period of 2015, reaching EUR 15.0 million (EUR 12.7 million). “Aspocomp’s sales continued to see strong growth in the third quarter, driven by automotive industry customers and the German market. The automotive industry became the company’s largest customer group during the quarter, outperforming telecommunications. The R&D needs of telecommunication customers slowed down in July-August, as typical, but clear signs of improved demand were seen at the end of the third quarter,” said CEO Mikko Montonen. He adds; “The company increased its sales successfully in all customer groups as compared to the previous year. In relative terms, growth was strongest in the automotive industry and the most moderate in telecommunications.” Key figures 7-9/2016 in brief

		Q316	Q31515	Change
	Net sales	EUR 5.6 million	EUR 3.8 million	EUR 1.8 million
	EBITDA	EUR 0.4 million	EUR -0.2million	EUR 0.6 million
	Operating result	EUR 0.2 million	EUR -0.5million	EUR 0.6 million
	% of net sales	2.7 %	-12.4 %	15.2 ppts

Mikko Montonen continues to explain that while the company’s sales developed well, there was clearly room for improvement in the operating result – and that the maintenance and device installation downtime at the Oulu plant in August as well as decreased demand for high technology PCB’s during the summer season, influenced the result. However, the company’s customer base is expanding – in accordance with its strategic plan – supporting the growth and stability of net sales. “Optimization of the product portfolio and the improvement of profitability will play a key role after a sufficient and steady business volume is achieved,” Mikko Montonen states in the CEO review. Outlook for the future A major share of Aspocomp’s net sales is generated by quick-turn deliveries and R&D series, and thus the company’s order book is short. The company is planning to systematically expand its services to cover the PCB needs of customers over the entire life cycle and with that try to balance out fluctuations in demand and the order book. The company estimates that the pick-up in demand that started in February will continue and that the full year as a whole will be better than 2015.