Mycronic: Strong order intake during an otherwise weak quarter

In absolute numbers the Swedish company recorded an order intake of SEK 1,238 million (EUR 114.81 million), up from SEK 813 million (EUR 75.64 million) during the same period last year. Net sales however decreased 18% to SEK 900 million (EUR 83.71 million) from SEK 1,069 million (EUR 99.43 million). EBIT amounted decreased 51% to SEK 198 million (EUR 18.42 million) from SEK 409 million (EUR 38 million). In the Q3 report, CEO Anders Lindqvist, comments on how the company has been affected by the trade dispute between the US and China, and how – specifically – the Assembly Solutions business area has been affected by the slowdown in the electronics industry. “In fact, the impact on Mycronic has been limited so far, which is reflected in the 52 percent increase in order intake during the third quarter. In some cases, the effects in the short term may even be positive, for example when customers in China decide to take back previously outsourced production and therefore need to invest in new production equipment,” Anders Lindqvist says. During the quarter, the Dispensing division in Assembly Solutions demonstrated a favourable performance in China and broadened its offering and customer base to new segments by adapting products to satisfy market demand. On October 23, Mycronic launched SLX, a new laser mask writer for the semiconductor industry, which means that the company is once again supplying newly developed systems to this market. “We expect good future growth based on long-term and stable trends and a growing need to replace and upgrade the installed base of laser mask writers. With its investments in recent years in the product portfolio for mask writers for displays, Mycronic has established technology and know-how that can be reused, which creates very favorable conditions to also leverage the opportunities in the semiconductor segment,” Lindqvist says.