Strongest quarter in company history for KATEK
German EMS provider KATEK, started the fiscal year of 2022 with the strongest quarter in its corporate history.
Group sales increased to EUR 158.4 million in Q1 2022, an increase of 15.2% from EUR 137.5 million during the same period last year.
The company states in its quarter report that it was able to take advantage of the challenging situation for the entire industry in terms of ongoing supply bottlenecks, logistics difficulties and material price increases to gain market share and strengthen its position as number three among European electronics service providers. The highest growth was seen in the high-value electronics areas, for example in renewables/solar and tele-care/healthcare, where sales more than doubled.
“In our business in the renewables/solar market, we are experiencing the full development of the long-awaited potential in connection with the energy transition in these months. Together with our partners, we are already working on the next product generations and are also structurally well prepared for the coming demands,” says Rainer Koppitz, CEO & Co-Founder of KATEK SE.
At EUR 5.5 million, the KATEK Group’s EBITDA in the first quarter of 2022 was below the comparable figure for the previous year of EUR 16.4 million, which was significantly influenced by a positive special effect from the preliminary purchase price allocation of the assets acquired from Leesys (Leipzig Electronic Systems GmbH, now KATEK Leipzig GmbH).
At the same time, the ongoing supply, logistics and materials bottlenecks and the associated additional costs are having a temporary impact on the EMS provider's earnings and the significant increase in inventories for safety reasons. KATEK says that it is successfully countering this with price increases and inventory optimisation measures.
Operating result (EBITDA adjusted) increased 36.6% from EUR 7.1 million to EUR 9.7 million during the quarter.
In April 2022, KATEK disclosed plans to acquire SigmaPoint, a Canadian supplier of high-value electronics. The acquisition will expand KATEK’s industry presence to include Homeland Security & Defense and strengthen the company's offering to European customers in North America as well.
