Mycronic Releases Interim Report for January-June 2021

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Mycronic has announced its interim results for January-June 2021.

Second-quarter 

• Order intake amounted to SEK 1,002 (651) million, up 54 percent
• Net sales decreased 2 percent to SEK 1,064 (1,086) million. Based on constant exchange rates, net sales increased 6 percent
• EBIT declined to SEK 241 (281) million and EBIT margin was 23 (26) percent
• Earnings per share were SEK 1.84 (2.18)

January-June 

• Order intake amounted to SEK 2,030 (2,083) million, down 3 percent
• Net sales increased 29 percent to SEK 2,355 (1,822) million. Based on constant exchange rates, the increase was 39 percent
• EBIT rose to SEK 739 (336) million and EBIT margin was 31 (18) percent
• Earnings per share were SEK 5.84 (2.58)

“The Group’s order intake increased 54 percent during the quarter, driven by improvements in all of the divisions. Former Assembly Solutions delivered an EBIT margin of 13 percent, which is above the full-year objective and a clear improvement compared with the preceding year. Pattern Generators delivered four systems during the quarter, compared with three systems in the previous year, although with a less advantageous product mix. Our growth strategy of focusing our attention on attractive areas to complement and broaden our offering through carefully selected acquisitions resulted in Mycronic acquiring atg Luther & Maelzer GmbH in Germany. The acquisition strengthens Mycronic generally and underlines the Global Technologies division’s focus on leading niche technologies, which have the potential to grow faster than the market as a whole,” says Anders Lindqvist, President and CEO.

Outlook 2021

It is the Board of Directors’ opinion that consolidated net sales for 2021 will be at a level of SEK 4.5 billion, based on prevailing exchange rates, including the completed acquisition.

CEO comments

The Group’s order intake increased 54 percent during the quarter, driven by improvements in all of the divisions. Former Assembly Solutions delivered an EBIT margin of 13 percent, which is above the full-year objective and a clear improvement compared with the preceding year. Pattern Generators delivered four systems during the quarter, compared with three systems in the previous year, although with a less advantageous product mix.

Our growth strategy of focusing our attention on attractive areas to complement and broaden our offering through carefully selected acquisitions resulted in Mycronic acquiring atg Luther & Maelzer GmbH in Germany. The transaction was completed on June 25 and the acquisition took place three years after Mycronic’s most recent acquisition, which was MRSI Systems in the US. As with MRSI, atg L&M will be included in the Global Technologies division. The company is a leading global developer, manufacturer and supplier of advanced equipment for electrical testing of PCBs and substrates. The addition of atg L&M broadens our offering and creates a platform in the field of electrical testing. The acquisition strengthens Mycronic generally and underlines the Global Technologies division’s focus on leading niche technologies, which have the potential to grow faster than the market as a whole.

Pattern Generators delivered four mask writers during the quarter and received an order for one SLX system, which confirms that the product’s performance, high productivity and reliability is appreciated by our customers in the rapidly expanding semiconductor industry. With SLX, we have established a solid growth opportunity in the semiconductor market. Within the mask writers for displays segment, we see a continued favorable, long-term market trend, although the market has been negatively impacted in the last year by a weaker market for photomasks for displays. The business is characterized by fluctuations over time and performance should be viewed from a long-term perspective. After the end of the quarter, we received an order for a Prexision Lite 8 Evo as well as for an FPS 6100 Evo.

High Flex and High Volume delivered improved order intake, net sales and EBIT for the quarter. The market for High Flex was characterized by strong demand from consumers and generally high demand for electronics. At the same time the pandemic causes uncertainty regarding access to components and input goods, which could lead to our customers postponing investments and only focusing on necessary production equipment. Two factors that positively impacted demand for High Volume’s products is that Chinese customers’ production is being moved back to China as an effect of the pandemic and that increased labor costs are driving investments in automation.

In Global Technologies, camera modules to the automotive industry in the US, Europe and China demonstrated increased activity, although the Chinese market is characterized by intense local competition. In die bonding, the division gained new customers in the US and China in the second quarter, as well as a major order in China, which contributed to improved order intake for Global Technologies.

Component shortages and higher prices for input goods have not affected our performance in the second quarter to any significant degree, but we still foresee that it can lead to higher costs and longer lead times going forward. 

The Board of Directors has revised its assessment of net sales for 2021 to SEK 4.5 billion at prevailing exchange rates, including the completed acquisition. The revision from the previous SEK 3.9 billion is mainly attributable to higher volumes and the acquisition of atg L&M. The goal for the accumulated EBIT margin in former Assembly Solutions of 10 percent stands firm, as does the long-term goal of achieving net sales of SEK 5 billion no later than 2023.