Apr 20, 2018 / 5:00 CET/CEST
Bad Ragaz/Switzerland, April 20, 2018
INFICON Holding AG (SIX Swiss Exchange: IFCN) achieved new highs in sales and operating income in its first quarter of 2018. Sales rose 25.1% to USD 110.7 million compared with the same period last year, and 8.6% over the preceding quarter. Excluding exchange rate effects of 5.7 percentage points, sales picked up organically by 19.3%. The operating income grew by 17.6% to USD 24.6 million, yielding an operating income margin of 22.2%.
Growth in all end markets except for Security & Energy
INFICON increased its sales to the Semi & Vacuum Coating market in the first quarter by 29.0% to USD 52.2 million compared with the respective prior-year period. In comparison with the last quarter of 2017, the increase was 20.0%. This development shows on the one hand the positive trend in the semiconductor business. On the other hand, the expansion of production capacities for OLED displays pushes sales up in the vacuum coating market. In the broadly based General Vacuum market, the positive trend persisted, too. INFICON saw sales increase by 6.2% to USD 31.0 million compared with the closing quarter of 2017, and by 27.3% over the same period last year. INFICON benefitted from the rising sales in its private label business and from a generally favorable business trend. Sales to customers in the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning & Automotive market grew by 13% to USD 20.8 million versus the same period last year, and by 10.1% over the preceding quarter. The demand from the global automotive industry and especially the electric mobility sector were the main drivers here. Sales to the Security & Energy market rose by 26.4% to USD 6.7 million compared with the same period last year, yet fell 36.2% short of the strong closing quarter of 2017.
Operating income on a new high
In the first quarter of 2018, INFICON achieved a gross profit margin of 51.1%, 0.1 percentage points up compared with the respective figure of last year. After nominally higher, yet with a view to the sales growth under proportionately increased expenses for research and development of USD 7.9 million and selling, general, and administrative costs of 24.1 million, INFICON recorded an operating income of USD 24.6 million. This translates in an operating income margin of 22.2% for the first quarter. The net profit for the period amounted to USD 18.7 million. This is an increase of 43.9% over the prior-year figure. The profit margin rose to 16.9%, up from 14.7% a year ago. Earnings per share improved to USD 7.70 after USD 5.41 calculated for the same period last year.
Guidance for 2018
After this pleasant start into the new year, INFICON affirms its guidance for the full year 2018: Sales are expected around USD 400 million and the operating income margin should exceed 19%.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet of INFICON shows a net cash position of USD 81.4 million at the end of March 2018 after USD 85.0 million at year-end. The working capital amounted to USD 108.7 million, reflecting the elevated level of billings at the end of the quarter and - in line with the overall growth - increased inventories. The working capital stood at 24.6 % of sales after 22.6% a year ago. INFICON's balance sheet showed an equity ratio of 74.3% at the end of March after 77.1% at year-end.
Conference call and Webcast
INFICON will discuss its first quarter results in more detail today in an English-speaking conference call at
11:30 a. m. CEST. Participants please dial in using any of the following numbers:
Europa: +41 (0)58 310 5000
UK: +44 (0)207 1070613
USA (Toll free): +1 (1)866 291 4166
USA (local): +1 (1)631 570 5613
Please dial in a couple of minutes prior to the call. There is no PIN required to register. A live webcast of the conference call, including a visual presentation in addition to the audio, will also be available in the Investors section of the INFICON website www.inficon.com. You can access the webcast directly at http://bit.ly/IFCN_Q1_2018.
Webcast access for mobile devices – QR code
Access the live and on-demand versions of the webcast from mobile devices
running iOS and Android using the QR code shown here:
Corporate calendar 2018
INFICON's corporate calendar is continuously updated and available at http://bit.ly/IFCN_Calendar.
E-mail Alerts
To automatically receive notification via e-mail of the latest financial information from INFICON, sign up for e-mail Alerts in the Investors section of the INFICON website at http://bit.ly/IFCN_alerts.
Corporate Contact
Matthias Tröndle
Chief Financial Officer
+423 388 3510
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