SUSS MicroTec: 2022 was the most successful year in the Company's history | Further growth and earnings improvement expected for 2023

SUSS MicroTec: 2022 was the most successful year in the Company's history | Further growth and earnings improvement expected for 2023

•    Order entry improved by 32.4% to record level of EUR 446.2 million
•    Sales reached EUR 299.1 million thanks to very strong final quarter
•    EBIT margin of 11.0% significantly above previous year;
     operating EBIT margin: 9.9%
•    Dividend increase of EUR 0.04 to EUR 0.20 per share proposed
•    Outlook 2023: Sales to increase to EUR 320 to 360 million;
     EBIT margin expected to be 10-12%

Garching, March 31, 2023 – SÜSS MicroTec SE, a leading manufacturer of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, today published its annual report for the fiscal year 2022.

In the past fiscal year, SUSS MicroTec achieved an order entry of EUR 446.2 million, exceeding the previous year's figure by 32.4 percent. All three regions – Asia/Pacific, EMEA and North America – contributed to the increase. The Asia/Pacific region was again the most important region for SUSS MicroTec in 2022, with a share of around 70 percent. In North America, order entry rose by 62.6 percent to EUR 67.3 million. Equipment for the production process of semiconductors made of silicon carbide (SiC) was increasingly placed there. The order backlog of EUR 346.4 million at December 31, 2022, will ensure high utilization of production capacities in 2023 and to some extent also in 2024.

“Our very positive order position shows that our customers believe in the benefits of our solutions, from a technological point of view and in terms of cost-of-ownership, i.e. the total cost of a solution from acquisition to ongoing operation. This makes us proud and is our motivation to continue to develop and be a strong, reliable partner for our customers in the future,” said Dr. Bernd Schulte, CEO of SÜSS MicroTec SE.

Thanks in particular to a very strong final quarter with sales of EUR 103.9 million, SUSS MicroTec increased its total sales revenues by 13.6 percent to EUR 299.1 million in the past year. The initial forecast of EUR 270 to 300 million was thus achieved at the upper end of the range. On an absolute basis, the Lithography division made the largest contribution to growth, with sales increasing by EUR 20.6 million to EUR 175.7 million. In the fourth quarter in particular, an above-average number of systems were delivered and realized in sales. The Micro-optics division saw an increase in sales of EUR 13.5 million or 52.5 percent to EUR 39.2 million, mainly thanks to orders won and additional production capacity created for applications in the automotive sector. In the Bonder division, sales increased by 11.8 percent to EUR 35.0 million. The increase was driven in equal measure by equipment for permanent and temporary bonding. Across all divisions, even stronger sales momentum was prevented by persistent supply chain bottlenecks for purchased components. This particularly affected the Photomask Equipment division. While order entry in this division increased from EUR 70.8 million to EUR 130.9 million, sales declined slightly from EUR 49.7 million to EUR 48.8 million.

The higher sales volume enabled better coverage of fixed costs in 2022. Together with a favorable product mix and the price increases implemented in the 2022 fiscal year, which have had an effect since the second half of the year and especially since the fourth quarter, the gross profit margin has improved by one percentage point from 35.8 percent to 36.8 percent.

Selling, administration and development expenses increased by a total of 9.9 percent to EUR 76.8 million in 2022 and thus at a lower rate than sales. SUSS MicroTec increased its research and development expenses from EUR 22.1 million to EUR 25.0 million, which corresponds to 8.4 percent of consolidated sales. In particular, development projects related to the particularly promising markets of hybrid bonding and wafer cleaning were advanced.

EBIT improved overall by EUR 10.2 million to EUR 32.8 million. The EBIT margin was thus 11.0 percent, compared to 8.6 percent in the previous year. It should be noted, however, that EBIT included two extraordinary effects totaling EUR 3.1 million. The complete liquidation of the US subsidiary SUSS MicroTec Photonic Systems Inc., where the UV scanner business was located until 2019/2020, accounted for EUR 2.2 million. A further EUR 0.9 million was attributable to the reversal of impairment losses on UV scanner and laser materials that had previously been written down. The operating EBIT margin excluding these extraordinary effects was 9.9 percent.

Free cash flow in the past fiscal year amounted to EUR 16.0 million and was thus significantly above the forecast range of EUR -5 to +5 million. The main reasons for the positive deviation were the significant increase in advance payments as a result of the high order entry and the net profit for the year, which increased by EUR 8.5 million year-on-year to EUR 24.5 million. The Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Shareholders' Meeting on May 31, 2023, that a dividend of EUR 0.20 be distributed to shareholders, which is EUR 0.04 higher than in the previous year. The total payout volume would amount to EUR 3.8 million and correspond to a payout ratio of 23.8 percent of free cash flow.

Outlook

If the current supply shortages gradually ease in the 2023 fiscal year and the global economy in general and the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment market in particular do not deteriorate unexpectedly at the same time, the management expects sales to range from EUR 320 million to EUR 360 million for the full year of 2023. At the midpoint of the range, this would correspond to growth of 13.7 percent. The largest contribution to Group growth is expected to come from the Photomask Equipment division, which has recently seen particularly strong orders, and the bonder business.

In terms of EBIT, the company expects positive impetus from the higher sales level and the associated economies of scale, as well as from the price increases implemented in 2022. It may be adversely affected by further inflation-driven material price increases and planned salary increases averaging 5.2 percent worldwide. Overall, management expects an EBIT margin in the range of 10 to 12 percent. 

The third performance indicator for which the Company will provide a forecast from fiscal year 2023 onwards is the gross profit margin. Oliver Albrecht, CFO of SUSS MicroTec, comments: “The gross profit margin is a very important key figure for the semiconductor equipment industry because it describes the extent to which a company is able to translate a leading market position into corresponding product margins. Likewise, the metric illustrates whether a company can offset cost increases through price increases or productivity improvements.” Looking at the order backlog as of December 31, 2022, and the product mix of equipment deliveries planned for 2023, management expects the gross margin in fiscal year 2023 to be in the range of 37 to 38 percent.

The Annual Report 2022 is available for download in German and English at www.suss.com/en/investor-relations.
 

Media contact:
Sven Koepsel
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Email: sven.koepsel@suss.com

Phone: +49 89 32007151
 

About SUSS MicroTec
SUSS MicroTec is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for microstructuring in the semiconductor industry and related markets. In close cooperation with research institutes and industry partners SUSS MicroTec contributes to the advancement of next-generation technologies such as 3D Integration and nanoimprint lithography as well as key processes for MEMS and LED manufacturing. With a global infrastructure for applications and service SUSS MicroTec supports more than 8.000 installed systems worldwide. SUSS MicroTec is headquartered in Garching near Munich, Germany. The shares of SUSS MicroTec SE are traded in the Prime Standard of the German Stock Exchange (ISIN DE000A10K0235). For more information, please visit http://www.suss.com.

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