Jenoptik: order intake down on prior year; order backlog slightly up

From January through early March business performance was in line with expectations, but clear impacts of the corona pandemic and increasing uncertainty within the automotive industry became apparent from late March on.

These impacts impeded Jenoptik’s business performance in this sector over the second quarter. Overall, demand at group level declined significantly in the six-month period, in part due to project postponements and cancellations. The order intake decreased to EUR 333.9 million (prior year: adjusted EUR 381.6 million). Due to the acquisition of INTEROB, the order backlog grew slightly to EUR 478.0 million (31/12/2019: adjusted EUR 464.7 million). The corona pandemic had varying effects on the development of revenue of Jenoptik’s divisions. The pandemic had little to no impact on business with public-sector customers and the semiconductor equipment industry, which actually posted growth. By contrast, the Light & Production division was strongly affected by developments in the automotive industry. Over the first six months of 2020, the Jenoptik Group generated revenue of EUR 329.0 million (prior year: adjusted EUR 373.4 million). The Spanish company INTEROB, acquired in February 2020, contributed EUR 5.3 million to group revenue over the reporting period. Measures taken to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as short-time working, had a positive effect on profitability in the second quarter, a press release states. Adjusted EBITDA rose appreciably from EUR 17.3 million in the first quarter to 24.9 million euros in the second quarter. For the full reporting period, adjusted EBITDA fell to EUR 42.2 million as a result of the drop in revenue, and was thus 22.3% down on the comparable prior-year figure (prior year: EUR 54.3 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin accordingly fell to 12.8% (prior year: 14.5%). “After a solid start to the year, the second quarter has seen a weaker order situation, as we expected. However, we are confident of achieving improved business performance in the second half-year,” says Stefan Traeger, President & CEO of JENOPTIK AG. “Key to this has been our comprehensive and rapid response, with a bunch of measures, to the structural challenges we face, particularly in the automotive industry, and, of course, to the effects of the corona pandemic.” JENOPTIK AG specifies revenue and margin targets for 2020 Supported by the actions taken to limit the impacts of COVID-19 and in view of an expected stronger second half-year, the Executive Board forecasts revenue of EUR 770 million to EUR 790 million for the full year 2020 (not including the impacts arising from the expected acquisition of TRIOPTICS GmbH). Adjusted for the effects arising from the initiated structural and portfolio measures, the EBITDA margin is expected to be between 14.5% and 15.0%. “To ensure a stronger second half-year, we expect to see signs of recovery in the economy and no further corona wave. The structural and portfolio measures that we have initiated will help Jenoptik to accelerate growth and improve profitability starting next year at the latest. To ensure full transparency, we are reporting the associated effects separately in this fiscal year,” says Traeger.