DGAP-News: Viscom AG: Financial year starts with high customer investment. Modest revenue and EBIT so far. Outlook positive.

Viscom AG: Financial year starts with high customer investment. Modest revenue and EBIT so far. Outlook positive.

Incoming orders: EUR 24,716 thousand (previous year: EUR 20,156 thousand, +22.6 %)
Revenue: EUR 16,778 thousand (previous year: EUR 19,542 thousand, -14.1 %)
Order backlog: EUR 27,715 thousand (previous year: EUR 18,684 thousand, +48.3 %)
EBIT: EUR 253 thousand (previous year: EUR 2,658 thousand)
EBIT-Margin: 1.5 % (previous year: 13.6 %)
Executive Board confirms forecast for 2018

Hanover, 15 May 2018 - For Viscom AG (ISIN DE0007846867), the European market leader for automated optical inspection systems in the electronics industry, the start to the 2018 financial year was again characterized by strong investment on the part of its customers. With an order volume of EUR 24,716 thousand and a corresponding increase of 22.6 % on the same quarter of the previous year, the mechanical engineering firm from the German state of Lower Saxony achieved very good incoming orders. The order backlog also rose significantly to EUR 27,715 thousand as at 31 March 2018 (previous year: EUR 18,684 thousand), corresponding to full capacity utilisation for more than three months.

In contrast, revenue at EUR 16,778 thousand was around 14 % lower than in the first quarter of 2017 (EUR 19,542 thousand). Mr Schwingel, CFO of Viscom AG, says: "Nonetheless, the figure achieved in the current financial year is adequate for a first quarter. Moreover, 2017 saw an extraordinarily strong start that was hard to top and was more an exception than a rule."

Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to EUR 253 thousand (previous year: EUR 2,658 thousand). This corresponds to an EBIT-Margin of 1.5 % (previous year: 13.6 %). This decline was due in particular to the lower revenue and the capacity increases made in connection with the Company's high order backlog and forecast growth prospects. These were reflected in increased staff costs and other operating expenses. In addition, earnings were reduced by a disproportionately large increase in commission expenses as a result of the customer revenue structure. This item was also influenced by increased repair and warranty expenses.

Europe was the Viscom Group's strongest region by some distance, generating revenue of EUR 10,485 thousand in the first three months of the 2018 financial year (previous year: EUR 9,338 thousand) and accounting for around 62 % of total revenue. Revenue increased by around 12 % as against the previous year. Revenue in Germany amounted to EUR 5,339 thousand (previous year: EUR 3,915 thousand). Segment earnings in the Europe region totalled EUR 196 thousand (previous year: EUR 1,944 thousand), corresponding to a margin of 1.9 % (previous year: 20.8 %). At an encouraging EUR 15,887 thousand, incoming orders were up significantly on the same period of the previous year (EUR 12,061 thousand).

Revenue in the Americas region decreased by around 51 % year-on-year to EUR 1,230 thousand (previous year: EUR 2,488 thousand) due to a smaller order backlog as at 31 December 2017 and the unusually weak demand in Mexico. The restraint in Mexico could be attributable to the slow progress of the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The fact that the major North American trade exhibition IPC APEX EXPO was held later than in previous years also gives reason to suspect that the otherwise positive sentiment of the American market will be delayed in affecting incoming orders. These effects had a corresponding impact on segment earnings, which were lower than in the same period of the previous year at EUR -404 thousand (previous year: EUR 235 thousand). Incoming orders in the Americas region amounted to EUR 1,573 thousand in the first three months of the 2018 financial year (previous year: EUR 3,500 thousand).

In Asia, the first quarter of 2018 was particularly influenced by a sharp increase in incoming orders compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Orders worth EUR 7,256 thousand (previous year: EUR 4,595 thousand) were placed in the region, especially including follow-up orders from new customers of preceding financial years. However, the revenue and the segment earnings in the region of EUR 5,063 thousand (previous year: EUR 7,716 thousand) and EUR 444 thousand (previous year: EUR 649 thousand) respectively were below the strong figures of the previous year's record-breaking first quarter. The EBIT-Margin amounted to 8.8 % (previous year: 8.4 %).

Volker Pape, Executive Board member and founder of Viscom AG, comments: "The first three months of the year were positive on balance. The healthy demand for the company's X-ray inspection systems remains uninterrupted. In addition, we had our best ever IPC APEX EXPO at the end of February, with a record number of visitors inspired by the "ready for i4.0" intelligently connected systems. At APEX in San Diego, we presented our complete range of advanced inspection systems, including 3D SPI, 3D AOI, 3D MXI and 3D AXI. We won the New Product Introduction (NPI) Award for the cutting-edge inline X-ray technology of our X7056-II system."

The company remains on a clear, growth-oriented course for the future. The orders of around EUR 28 million on the books as at 31 March 2018 and the still strong incoming orders guarantee the Viscom Group good capacity utilisation over the rest of the year. "In addition, we would like to satisfy our existing customers, acquire new customers and above all expand and strengthen our presence in future-oriented segments. We are extremely well equipped to do so with the right structures and strategies, and our technologies are being met with great interest on the market. Despite a somewhat modest start to the year, we are therefore confirming the forecast for the 2018 financial year that was published previously, with revenue of between EUR 93 million and EUR 98 million and an EBIT-Margin of between 13 % and 15 %," concludes Dr Martin Heuser, Executive Board member and founder of Viscom AG.

The Interim Report 3M/2018 is now available in the Investor Relations section at www.viscom.com.

OPERATING FIGURES

SEGMENT INFORMATION

About Viscom
Viscom AG develops, manufactures and sells high-quality inspection systems. The product range covers the complete range of optical inspection and X-ray inspection. The company is one of the world's leading providers in the field of component inspection for electronics production. Viscom systems can be configured and networked with each other according to specific customer requirements. The company's headquarters and production site are in Hanover, Germany. With a wide network of branches, application centres, service support points and representatives, Viscom has an international presence. Founded in 1984, Viscom has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE0007846867) since 2006. For additional information, visit www.viscom.com.

Where this release contains forecasts, expectations, or forward-looking statements, these statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties. We therefore cannot guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may deviate significantly from the expectations and assumptions expressed. The factors causing such deviations may include changes in the general economic situation and the competitive environment, exchange rate and interest rate fluctuations, and changes to national and international legislation. The company assumes no obligation to update the statements contained in this release.