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Aspocomp navigates uncertain market - order book rose by 60%
Sales for the Finnish PCB manufacturer remained stable during the company’s third quarter – this despite uncertain market conditions.
Net sales during the third quarter amounted to EUR 6.7 million, more or less unchanged from the same period last year. But when looking at the first three quarters the company’s net sales increased some 12% from last year and ended up at EUR 23.0 million.
During the third quarter the five largest customers accounted for 54% of Aspocomp’s net sales. If we divide the sales into geographical terms, 98% of net sales were generated in Europe, 1% in Asia and 1% in North America.
“Demand in the third quarter of the year is typically weaker because customers engage in less product development during the summer in all customer segments. As in the previous year, demand swung to very strong growth towards the end of September and the order book strengthened significantly from the comparison period,” says president and CEO, Mikko Montonen, in a press release.
EBITA for the third quarter of 2019 ended up at EUR 0.8 million, a slight decrease from EUR 0.9 million from last year. But the same pattern as for the net sales is visible here, looking at the first three months EBITA increased 48% to EUR 3.7 million when compared to the first three quarters of 2018.
Third quarter operating result was EUR 0.5 million, compared to an operating result of EUR 0.6 million during the third quarter last year.
“Profitability for the quarter was weakened by the significant decline in the share of sales generated by R&D series compared to volume supply products. At the same time, the availability of certain materials used in PCB manufacturing decreased and delivery times were prolonged, leading to a drop in deliveries of high value-added products. Materials availability and security of supply improved only towards the end of the quarter,” Montonen explains.
The operating result for the first three quarters of the year however increased by 66% compared to last year, amounting to EUR 2.7 million.
“The order book was at the record high of EUR 4.9 million at the end of the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 60 percent. The stronger order book will boost business during the rest of the year,” Montonen concludes.
