Aspocomp's 3Q24 operating result fell into the red
Finnish PCB manufacturer Aspocomp says that the recovery in demand for its products began during the third quarter of 2024 – however, this was not yet reflected in the company's net sales.
Aspocomp states in its 3Q24 report that demand for its products began during the third quarter of 2024. In particular, demand in the Semiconductor Industry customer segment grew strongly in the third quarter, and the company expects demand to remain strong.
Thus, Aspocomp reiterates its previous guidance. The PCB manufacturer estimates that its net sales for 2024 will be below the 2023 level, and its operating result for 2024 will be clearly below the 2023 level. In 2023, net sales amounted to EUR 32.3 million and the operating result was a loss of EUR 1.7 million.
Net sales for the third quarter of 2024 amounted to EUR 6.4 million, a decrease of 21% from EUR 8.1 million during the same period last year. Aspocomp's operating result during the period amounted to EUR -1.2 million, compared to EUR -0.7 during the same quarter in 2023.
"In the third quarter of 2024, net sales decreased by 21% year-on-year and amounted to EUR 6.4 million. The positive development in demand that started at the end of the second quarter continued and order intake grew strongly during the quarter, especially in the semiconductor industry segment. However, this was not yet reflected in net sales, because the customer segment’s demand was sluggish in the first half of the year," says Manu Skyttä, President and CEO, in the report.
The CEO continues to say that the recruitments that began in the summer have progressed as planned, which enables full utilisation of the capacity. However, the training and orientation of the new personnel are still in progress, so production throughput will be slower as the demand has grown stronger than expected. This also had – according to Manu Skyttä – a significant impact on the low net sales.
"The recovery in demand for Aspocomp’s products expected during 2024 began during the third quarter, and the company’s order book grew strongly. In particular, the demand of the Semiconductor Industry customer segment turned to strong growth compared to the previous quarter, and globally the market has continued to grow compared to the previous year. Demand is expected to remain strong and expand to all customers in the segment."
Aspocomp has been in a challenging situation since the fall of last year when demand dropped significantly, and the company’s business has been loss-making since the second half of last year.
"In the second quarter of this year, we focused strongly on improving sales. This, together with the revival of demand in the Semiconductor Industry segment, has raised the company’s order book to a significantly better level. The personnel lay-offs that had been ongoing since the beginning of the year ended in June and we started recruitment to increase capacity. These measures and the end of the annual holiday season have brought the number of production personnel back to a level that enables full utilisation of capacity."
The order book at the end of the period was EUR 19.1 million, compared to EUR 14.0 million during the same period last year. The order book grew especially due to strong demand from the Semiconductor Industry customer segment.
