Jenoptik reports dynamic growth in fiscal year 2022

16 Feb 2023

Diversified photonics firm anticipates further improvements in 2023 – “assuming that geopolitical risks do not worsen.”

In its 2022 financial statement, released this week, diverse photonics technologies company Jenoptik reports that its revenue was up by more than 30 percent (over 2021) to €980 million, with “strong organic growth of around 11 percent”.

Pretax earnings totalled €184 million (up 47 percent on prior-year figure, without one-off effect); order intake rose by around a quarter year-on-year; and the firm’s guidance for 2023 was summarized as “further profitable growth [is] expected”.

“In the challenging environment in fiscal year 2022, Jenoptik performed better than forecast at the beginning of the year. Both our existing business and the acquisition made in late 2021 [BG Medical Applications and SwissOptic Group] contributed to this. Looking at our order intake and backlog, we expect further increases in revenue and earnings in 2023,” said Stefan Traeger, President & CEO of Jenoptik.

‘Better than expected performance’

Considering the latest preliminary figures, BG Medical and SwissOptic Group, performed better than expected and contributed around €160 million to revenue.

Pre-tax earnings [“EBITDA”] improved at a faster rate than revenue to around €184 million (prior year: €125.2 million), due to an improved product mix and economies of scale.

Jenoptik further stated that it “continues to enjoy a very good financial and balance sheet position”. The equity ratio improved to around 50 percent (prior year 44.4 percent). Despite significantly higher capital expenditure, the free cash flow increased from €43.2 million to €83 million. The leverage, meaning net debt relative to EBITDA, amounted to 2.6.

The positive trend in demand continued in the fourth quarter of 2022. Both organically and due to the acquisition, the order intake in the past fiscal year grew by 27 percent to around €1.185 billion (prior year: €936.7 million). All divisions contributed to this growth, primarily the Advanced Photonic Solutions division. The order backlog, worth €734 million, was also improved (prior year: €543.5 million).

Based on good order intake, the high order backlog, and ongoing good developments in the core photonics businesses, especially in the semiconductor equipment sector, the Executive Board commented that “Jenoptik is confident of achieving further profitable growth in 2023.”

The statement added, “[We are] therefore anticipating revenue of €1.050 billion to €1.100 billion and an EBITDA margin of 19.0 to 19.5 percent for 2023. This forecast presupposes that geopolitical risks do not worsen. These include, for example, the Ukraine conflict – with the sanctions that have been put in place and potential impacts on price developments, energy supplies, and supply chains.”