2022 half-year results: Komax receives numerous orders
Inside Komax
The first half of 2022 was characterized by a high order intake – on the one hand due to the trend of automation at customers, and on the other because the war in Ukraine triggered various extraordinary orders. Despite persistent major challenges in supply chains, revenues were also up sharply. Komax is confident that the trend towards automation will continue in the second half of the year, and that demand for Komax solutions will remain at a good level.
The upward trend which started in 2021 was confirmed in the first half of 2022: “Customers continued to seek to increase the degree of automation in their factories, demonstrating considerable interest in Komax’s innovative solutions as a result,” says Matijas Meyer, CEO Komax Group. Komax also received a large number of extraordinary additional orders as a result of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is a key location in Europe for wire manufacturing. To compensate for the decline in certain Ukrainian production capacities during the war, customers are looking to build up replacement capacity elsewhere (particularly in other Eastern European countries and North Africa). Overall, the situation in Ukraine and the ongoing trend towards automation led to an impressive order intake of CHF 342.8 million in the first half of 2022. This equates to an increase of 49.6% on the first half of 2021 (CHF 229.1 million), when the start to the year was subdued.
In order to be able to handle the numerous extraordinary orders received, Komax recruited additional personnel, primarly in Switzerland. Against a backdrop of rising production volumes and a concomitant increase in material requirements, the existing supply chain challenges became even more pronounced. Accordingly, revenues in the first half of 2022 were unable to keep pace with the development of the order intake. Revenues increased by 31.9% to CHF 241.8 million (first half of 2021: CHF 183.3 million).
R&D expenditure remains high
“We were able to offset most of the rising personnel, material, and energy costs, etc. in the first half of 2022,” emphasizes Andreas Wolfisberg, CFO Komax Group. “As a result, Komax managed to more than double its operating result (EBIT), which increased from CHF 14.1 million to CHF 30.6 million.” This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 12.6% (first half of 2021: 7.7%). Group earnings after taxes (EAT) increased to CHF 23.3 million (first half of 2021: CHF 8.4 million).
Komax continued to invest heavily in a promising future in the first half of 2022, allocating the sum of CHF 23.4 million to research and development (first half of 2021: CHF 18.6 million), which equates to 9.7% of revenues.
Outlook
“Looking ahead to the second half of 2022, we will focus on working through the high order levels and carrying out the initial analysis work in connection with the combination of Komax and Schleuniger, which is scheduled for 30 August 2022,” explains Matijas Meyer. As the numerous supply chain challenges can be expected to persist over the coming months, Komax is anticipating revenues for the second half of 2022 (excluding Schleuniger) that are in line with the figure for the first six months of the year. Absolute EBIT should also be broadly on a par with the first half of 2022. Komax will communicate the financial impact of the combination between Komax and Schleuniger on the full-year results for 2022 after the closing of the transaction (end of August 2022).
Contact
Roger Müller has been working for Komax since 2016. Transparent communication with internal and external stakeholders is a key concern for him.
