Mycronic Releases Q4, 2022 Results

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Mycronic announces year-end report January-December 2022.

Fourth quarter 

• Order intake amounted to SEK 2,529 (1,234) million, an increase of 105 percent
• Net sales increased 16 percent to SEK 1,497 (1,295) million. Based on constant exchange rates, net sales increased 6 percent
• EBIT amounted to SEK 262 (204) million and the EBIT margin was 18 (16) percent
• Earnings per share were SEK 2.56 (1.82)

January-December 

• Order intake amounted to SEK 6,783 (4,506) million, an increase of 51 percent
• Net sales increased 10 percent to SEK 5,119 (4,635) million. Based on constant exchange rates, net sales increased 1 percent
• EBIT amounted to SEK 894 (1,049) million and the EBIT margin was 17 (23) percent
• Earnings per share were SEK 7.59 (8.48)
• The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 3.50 (3.00) per share to the 2023 Annual General Meeting 

Outlook 2023

It is the Board of Directors’ opinion that consolidated net sales for 2023 will be at a level of SEK 5.5 billion.

Anders Lindqvist, President and CEO, comments

The end of the year was characterized by record order intake, which increased 105 percent in the fourth quarter, driven by a fantastic development in Pattern Generators. The order intake resulted in a record order backlog, which provides a solid base for our work going forward. The Group’s net sales were also the best ever, after an increase of 16 percent, with Pattern Generators, High Flex and High Volume contributing to the development. EBIT strengthened to SEK 262 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 18 percent.

Pattern Generators received its first order for an FPS10 Evo in the fourth quarter. This is a new product in the FPS Evo series for writing photomasks to produce Fine Metal Masks, which are used when manufacturing OLED displays. The order intake for the quarter was at record levels and included one Prexision 800 Evo, three Prexision 8 Evos, one Prexision 8 Entry Evo, two Prexision Lite 8 Evos, one FPS10 Evo, one Prexision MMS and six SLXs.

Demand in High Flex during the fourth quarter was healthy, particularly in Europe, but also in the US and Mexico, where the division’s customers have well-filled order books. The Chinese market was challenging, although the easing of covid restrictions could present opportunities going forward. High Flex established operations in Mexico in the fourth quarter and opened a sales and service center in Guadalajara, that will support both High Flex and High Volume in the future.

After covid restrictions in China were lifted at the end of the fourth quarter, High Volume noted a clear increase in project requests from existing customers in consumer electronics, a customer segment that otherwise showed weak demand throughout 2022.

Global Technologies’ business for electrical tests of printed circuit boards and substrates reported strong aftermarket sales in a specific type of test, where it commands a unique position. In die bonding, the largest markets are data and telecom, which were hesitant during the quarter, as was the Chinese market as a whole.

As I look back over the full year 2022, I am happy to conclude that we have been largely successful at producing and delivering to our customers despite being faced with major challenges in terms of shortage of components, logistics and difficulties in recruiting staff. We also succeeded at keeping the gross margins at a healthy level despite rising material costs. The reason that the Group’s gross margin nevertheless declined year-on-year was the lower sales and less favorable product mix in Pattern Generators, which we announced already in last year’s year-end report.

For us important steps were taken in terms of our sustainability work during 2022. However, much remains to be done and we will tirelessly continue our efforts in this area.

For 2023, the opinion of the Board of Directors and myself is that Mycronic’s net sales will be at a level of SEK 5.5 billion.