SCHWEIZER Confirms Group Figures and Outlook for 2024

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SCHWEIZER announces the publication of the annual report for 2023 and confirms the preliminary figures. The SCHWEIZER-Group (according to IFRS) generated sales of EUR 139.4 million in 2023 (previous year: EUR 131.0 million). This corresponds to an increase of 6.4% compared to the previous year. This growth was made possible by a strong fourth quarter.

Sales from own production increased slightly compared to the previous year to EUR 93.8 million  (2022: EUR 92.4 million). Sales of products from our strategic partners increased by 18% to EUR 45.6 million (2022: EUR 38.6 million). The share of sales generated by trading goods thus amounts to 32.7% (2022: 29.5%).

Sales of EUR 98.9 million were generated with automotive customers, which corresponds to an increase of +12.6% compared to the previous year. The share of sales with automotive customers is 71.0% (2022: 67.1%). This development reflects the increasing momentum in the automotive sector, after the industry was still severely impacted by supply bottlenecks for electronic components in the previous year.

The order backlog totalled EUR 251.3 million at the end of the reporting year. Of this, an order backlog totalling EUR 152.0 million is due for delivery in 2024.

The gains from the deconsolidation of Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., China and an operational turnaround in business results led to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of EUR 47.4 million or 34.0%. Adjusted for the result in China and the positive deconsolidation result of the investment in Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd, China, EBITDA of EUR +8.9 million was achieved (2022: EUR +5.0 million). This corresponds to an EBITDA ratio of 6.4%.

The sale of the majority stake in Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., China, significantly improved the Group's equity ratio to 24.3% (31.12.2022: -5.5%) and the net gearing ratio fell to 64.2%.

Compared to the previous year, total assets decreased by EUR -54.2 million to EUR 106.1 million. This change is mainly due to the fact that the sale of the majority stake in the Chinese subsidiary had not yet been completed as at 31 December 2022 and the resulting balance sheet item ‘Assets held for sale’ totalling the resulting balance sheet item ‘Assets held for sale’ totalling EUR 78.8 million.

Nicolas-Fabian Schweizer, CEO of Schweizer Electronic AG: ‘The successful realisation of the sale of shares in Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) and the operational handover of the plant to our partner WUS Printed Circuit (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. has been completed. The production ramp-up of our embedding products in Jintan, which was planned from the outset, has been successfully completed.  At the same time, our strategy was adapted in 2023 in line with the new company structure and changing market conditions. The increased focus on technology, diversification of customer groups and addressing new market regions - in particular North America - are in full swing and already showed the first signs of success in 2023.’

Marc Bunz, CFO, added on the outlook: ‘After 2023 was strongly characterised by the sale of the majority stake in Schweizer Electronic (Jiangsu) Co, Ltd, China, 2024 will only be slightly influenced by special effects from this transaction. Thanks to the strategic realignment, we achieved a remarkable turnaround in earnings and in the cash and balance sheet ratios in 2023. The adjusted strategy can be consistently pursued and realised from 2024. The fab-light strategy will lead to a reduced use of financial resources for capacity investments. Investments will be focussed on the Schramberg site, while the partnerships in Asia will enable broad-based growth to be achieved without the company having to invest in its own facilities.’ 

Forecast / Outlook:

Sales forecast - another record year expected

Based on current information, we expect sales of between EUR 140 million and EUR 150 million for 2024 (2023: EUR 139.4 million). We therefore expect to exceed the record year of 2023 once again. Growth will be driven by the ramp-up of major projects in the automotive sector. Of particular note here is embedding technology, which is currently being used for hybrid drive technologies in the 48-volt range but will later also be used in high-voltage applications to improve the energy yield of BEVs. Despite promising projects with industrial customers, these will not be able to achieve the growth rates of the automotive sector due to the ongoing challenges in the mechanical engineering and construction sectors.

Earnings forecast - EBITDA expected to exceed EUR 10 million again

The expectation for EBITDA is between EUR +10 and +11 million. We therefore consider it realistic to increase EBITDA by around 10% on an adjusted basis compared to 2023.

Balance sheet figures continue to stabilise

We expect to close the year 2024 with an equity ratio of 25 to 28% and a stable net gearing ratio of between 50 and 80%.