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The year-end report for January–December 2025 shows solid full-year growth driven by strong sales momentum, despite a softer fourth quarter marked by lower order intake and profitability.
Year-end Report January-December 2025
Fourth quarter
- Order intake amounted to SEK 1,939 (2,381) million, a decline of 19 percent
- Net sales declined 2 percent to SEK 2,021 (2,059) million. Based on constant exchange rates, net sales increased 10 percent
- EBIT amounted to SEK 342 (527) million and the EBIT margin was 17 (26) percent
- Earnings per share were SEK 1.42 (2.36) before dilution and SEK 1.42 (2.35) after dilution
January-December
- Order intake amounted to SEK 7,757 (7,611) million, an increase of 2 percent
- Net sales increased 12 percent to SEK 7,938 (7,057) million. Based on constant exchange rates, net sales increased 20 percent
- EBIT amounted to SEK 1,940 (2,021) million and the EBIT margin was 24 (29) percent
- Earnings per share were SEK 7.99 (8.62) before and after dilution
- The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 3.25 (2.75) per share to the 2026 Annual General Meeting. No extra dividend (SEK 1.00) is proposed
Outlook 2026
It is the Board of Directors’ opinion that net sales for 2026 will be at a level of SEK 8.25 billion.
Anders Lindqvist, President and CEO, comments:
Order intake in the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 1,939 million, which constituted a 19 percent decline compared with the stellar fourth quarter last year. Net sales reached SEK 2,021 million, where declines in Pattern Generators, PCB Assembly Solutions and High Volume were almost fully compensated for by a strong development in Global Technologies. EBIT for the quarter declined to SEK 342 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 17 percent.
In Pattern Generators, the semiconductor photomask market showed positive development, mainly driven by AI applications, which are predominantly produced on leading-edge nodes. Despite this, a significant share of photomasks are written using laser-based mask writers, including writing a second-layer on the most advanced photomasks. Hence, the AI trend is also positive for the demand of laser-based mask writers. The display photomask market remained stable. Pattern Generators continued increasing its investments in new core technologies, aimed at broadening the offering to the existing customer base through the development of a new semiconductor photomask inspection product, thereby supporting continued organic growth. The division received orders for one Prexision 8 Evo, one FPS 6100 Evo and three SLXs.
For PCB Assembly Solutions, the European market continued to be weak, the US market was stable, and Asia showed positive development. In November, the division participated at the biennial Productronica trade show, in Munich. Despite the sluggish European market, the mood at Productronica was upbeat. PCB Assembly Solutions’ launch of GenI received strong interest, a solution designed to liberate electronics manufacturers from the complexities of traditional Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) programming.
High Volume also participated at Productronica, generating a substantial amount of leads for the European market. A new production facility in Thailand was inaugurated during the quarter, with many customers present. The plans to partially list Axxon on a stock exchange in China have been put on hold. A broad Employee Stock Option Program (ESOP) has been launched for the division, in order to attract and retain top talent.
For Global Technologies, the market for the PCB Test business line remained strong. Solid demand from the AI segment transformed into high investments from PCB manufacturers. Investments in Southeast Asia also continued. The Die Bonding business line experienced good demand from the AI data center segment. The business line Applied Plasma also noted a good development in the quarter.
After the end of the period, Global Technologies acquired ETZ, a company based in Germany, which manufactures test probes. ETZ’s net sales in 2025 amounted to almost EUR 4 million, of which sales to Mycronic made up around 85 percent. The company will become part of the PCB Test business line.
2025 was a record year in terms of both order intake and net sales. The gross margin was stable and we increased our investments in expanding the organization, in particular R&D, which impacted EBIT. We also signed agreements to acquire four new exciting companies. Furthermore, the successful relocation during the year of PCB Assembly Solutions to Kista, Stockholm, has laid the foundation for future growth for both PCB Assembly Solutions and Pattern Generators, with both divisions now having improved their production possibilities.
