Basler reports business figures for 2019

– Sales Euro 162.0 million (2018: Euro 150.0 million, +8 %)

– Incoming orders Euro 166.5 million (2018: Euro 154.0 million, +8 %)

– EBITDA Euro 30.0 million (2018: Euro 36.0 million, -17 %)

– Earnings before taxes Euro 16.9 million (2018: Euro 24.5 million, -31 %)

– Earnings after taxes Euro 12.9 million (2018: Euro 17.0 million, -24 %)

– Result per share Euro 1.29 (2018: Euro 1.76 -27 %)

– Free cash flow (incl. M&A) Euro -9.7 million (2018: Euro 1.3 million)

– Forecast first half-year 2020: Sales Euro 70 – 78 million, pre-tax return 6 – 10 %

BASLER AG, the leading global manufacturer of industrial vision components, is releasing the audited annual report for fiscal year 2019 today.

In a stagnating market environment in 2019 the group’s sales stabilized on the high level of the previous year and amounted to Euro 162.0 million (previous year: Euro 150.0 million). Incoming orders amounted to Euro 166.5 million, and were also higher than the previous year’s level of Euro 154.0 million.

The earnings before taxes decreased particularly due to planned strategic investments in the building up of personnel to Euro 16.9 million (previous year: Euro 24.5 million, -31 %). Thus, the pre-tax margin summed up to 10.4 % (previous year: 16.3 %). With these results, Basler achieves the forecast communicated to the capital markets.

The free cash flow calculated as sum of the cash flows from operations and cash flow for investments reached a value of Euro -9.7 million (previous year: Euro 1.3 million). It was significantly impacted by the acquisition of MVLZ Sanbao Xingye in 2019.

Against the background of the annual results of 2019, the company will suggest in the annual shareholder’s meeting a dividend payment of Euro 0.26 per share. Should that proposal be adopted, the planned dividend payment of a total of Euro 2.6 million would correspond to about 20 % of the net result. With this proposal, Basler is 10% below the company’s dividend strategy and would like to use the scope to adequately prepare for a potential corona-related long-term downturn.

After a phase of a market decline of around 10% in 2019, the Basler Group assumed until March a structural stabilization for the 2020 financial year with low single-digit growth in the market. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus at the turn of the year and the pandemic spread are currently leading to a major change in the economic outlook and a high risk of a global recession. Even if the sales and procurement market situation of the Basler Group has so far been relatively stable, the management is assuming noticeable effects over the coming quarters. The impact cannot currently be quantified due to the uncertainty of the events.

Because of these uncertainties, the management board of Basler AG has decided to initially provide a forecast for the first half of the year. The outlook for the entire financial year follows when the semi-annual report is published. For the first half of 2020, the group expects a sales corridor of Euro 70.0 – 78.0 million with a pre-tax return between 6% and 10%. This forecast assumes that the situation in China will continue to improve gradually over the course of the second quarter and that demand in the regions of Europe and North America will weaken significantly in the second quarter.

Against the background of the weak industry development in 2018/19 and the current market influences from the corona pandemic and the resulting high uncertainties regarding economic development, the Basler Group is adjusting its medium-term target. From now on, the group expects to reach Euro 250 million sales in 2023 at the earliest.

The full annual report can be found on the company’s website (www.baslerweb.com).