Aspocomp ends 2014 in the red

The five largest customers accounted for 63 percent of net sales (67% in 2013). In geographical terms, 89 percent of net sales were generated in Europe (88%), 10 percent in Asia (12%) and 1 percent in North America (0%). Sales growth was very strong in the first half of the year, but deliveries slowed down significantly in the second half. The operating result was EUR -2.0 million (EUR -0.7 million 1-12/2013) including non-recurring items. Operating loss excluding non-recurring items was EUR -0.4 million (EUR -1.9 million in 2013), a YoY increase of EUR 1.5 million. “Sales growth was very strong in the first half of the year, but deliveries slowed down significantly in the second half. During the review year, the weakest net sales were seen in October-December, EUR 4.1 million. Sales decreased mainly because telecommunications customers had placed overlarge orders at the beginning of the year. In other respects, both the circuit board market and demand remained at a reasonable level, says Aspocomp CEO Mikko Montonen. “As part of our new sharpened strategy, Finnish production and development activities were centralized at the Oulu plant. As a result, a decision was made to close the Teuva plant. The company’s number of employees will decrease by nearly a third. The restructuring resulted in non-recurring costs of approximately EUR 1.5 million, which were recognized in the company’s 2014 result. The enhanced operating model is expected to yield annual savings of approximately EUR 0.9 million,” Montonen adds.