Comparison with H1 2014/15:
- Increase in revenue by 28.2% to EUR 387.1 million
- EBITDA at EUR 93.2 million, up 29% on prior year / EBITDA margin improved to 24.1%
- Profit for the period rose by 48.1% to EUR 42.1 million
- Revenue expectations for 2015/16 increased to EUR 740 million
- Set-up of plants in Chongqing, China, proceeds according to plan
- Promissory note loan of EUR 220 million issued
AT&S, one of the global technology leaders for high-end printed circuit boards (PCB), continued its strong growth by 28.2% in the first six months of the financial year 2015/16, thus clearly outperforming the market average, which only just recorded single-digit growth. “We recorded very high demand for high-end PCB solutions in the customer segments in the first six months – clearly a result of our high-end positioning“, says CEO Andreas Gerstenmayer and adds: “The usual seasonality did not occur in these six months. Currency effects had an additional positive impact on revenue growth, while the positive and negative effects of exchange rates on earnings were largely balanced out.”
Gerstenmayer is satisfied with the progress made in Chongqing: “The setting-up of the plant in Chongqing is still proceeding according to plan – we expect certification at the end of this year. It is the kick-off for the gradual launch of serial production at the beginning of next year.” Based on the organic growth in the first half of the year, an expected positive development in the next six months and an expected EUR-USD exchange rate of 1.16, the Management Board increases the outlook for revenues from EUR 725 million to EUR 740 million. In this context Andreas Gerstenmayer again points out that “the expected start-up costs will influence our fourth quarter and, consequently, the result of the full year, which has already been taken into account in our outlook.”
Higher revenue – increase in all earnings categories
In the first six months of the financial year 2015/16, revenue increased by 28.2%, from EUR 302.1 million to EUR 387.1 million. Organic growth amounted to EUR 43.8 million or 14.5%. Exchange rates, which were higher compared to the previous year, contributed EUR 41.2 million or 13.7% to the increase. 73.0% of revenue were not invoiced in euros. The share in revenue of products manufactured in Asia rose to 80.0% (vs. 76.0% in the previous year).
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 29.0% in the first six months, from EUR 72.3 million to EUR 93.2 million. In addition to a very high capacity utilisation in the first half of the year, this was attributable to a good product mix, continuous measures to improve costs and efficiency as well as positive exchange rate effects of EUR 5.8 million. Negative currency effects from euro revenue and the related manufacturing costs denominated in Indian rupees, Korean won and Chinese renminbi, were overcompensated by positive effects of the USD – EUR exchange rate.
The EBITDA margin rose by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, from 23.9% to 24.1%, thus slightly exceeding the prior year level.
Due to the positive business development, the excellent net finance costs and the low tax rate, profit for the period rose by EUR 13.7 million or 48.1%, from EUR 28.4 million to EUR 42.1 million. This results in an improvement of earnings per share from EUR 0.73 to EUR 1.08.