EQS-News

STEMMER IMAGING continues strong growth with double-digit increases in Revenue and EBITDA in Q1 2023 - Seite 2

At EUR 36.1 million, STEMMER IMAGING's order intake was below the supply-bottleneck-induced strong figure for the first quarter of 2022 (EUR 43.4 million). An order in the amount of EUR 6.5 million was postponed to April. If this order is attributed to the first quarter of 2023, order intake remained almost constant compared to the strong prior-year quarter. The new record order of almost EUR 14 million announced in January is only recognized as order intake in the quarter of delivery. STEMMER IMAGING plans to deliver this order in full during the current fiscal year.

STEMMER IMAGING generated revenue of EUR 40.4 million in the first three months of 2023, representing a significant growth of 12.6% year-on-year (Q1 2022: EUR 35.9 million). The company benefited from a significantly eased delivery situation.

From a regional perspective, STEMMER IMAGING's growth is also on a stable footing: almost all Group companies were able to report revenues above the previous year's level in the first quarter. In terms of end markets, the largest growth drivers in Machine Vision were the markets of Raw Materials & Recycling and Print & Packaging. In the non-industrial area of Artificial Vision, Medical, among others, recorded significant growth.

Supported by the higher-margin solutions business and the improved EUR exchange rate, the gross margin increased significantly compared to the second half of 2022 and amounts to 39.1% for the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2022: 38.5%). Due to consistent cost management focused on strategy implementation, STEMMER IMAGING’s cost level is only EUR 0.1 million above the prior-year period despite strong inflation.

The company was able to report an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 7.4 million, which corresponds to an overproportionate increase of 34.6%. The return on sales (ROS) increased to 18.2% in the first quarter compared to 15.2% in the same quarter of the previous year and is thus well within the target corridor of the medium-term forecast adjusted in March 2023 with an EBITDA margin of between 15% and 19%.

Cash flow from operating activities in the first quarter of the current fiscal year amounted to EUR 5.5 million and was thus significantly higher year-on-year at 201.4% (Q1 2022: EUR 1.8 million). The cash flow was positively influenced by the strong operating result and was only reduced by a moderate increase in working capital - mainly due to the increase in trade receivables based on the revenue growth.