January–March
- Turnover totaled EUR 198.9 million (224.6), a decrease of 11.5%
- Operating profit was EUR 12.7 (15.1) million, a decrease of 15.8%
- Operating profit margin was at 6.4% (6.7%)
- Net profit was EUR 9.8 (11.8) million, a decrease of 17.1%
- Earnings per share were EUR 0.15 (0.18)
- Dividend proposal of EUR 0.23 (0.21) per share
Outlook for 2024
Scanfil estimates that its turnover for 2024 will be EUR 820–900 million, and an adjusted operating profit of EUR 57–65 million.
| KEY FIGURES |
1-3 2024 |
1-3 2023 |
Change,% |
1-12 2023 |
| Turnover, EUR million |
198.9 |
224.6 |
-11.5 |
901.6 |
| Operating Profit, EUR million |
12.7 |
15.1 |
-15.8 |
61.3 |
| Operating Profit, % |
6.4 |
6.7 |
|
6.8 |
| Net Profit, EUR million |
9.8 |
11.8 |
-17.1 |
48.2 |
| Earnings per Share, EUR |
0.15 |
0.18 |
-17.8 |
0.74 |
| Return on Equity, % |
14.5 |
20.3 |
|
19.6 |
| Equity Ratio, % |
55.5 |
46.5 |
|
53.7 |
| Net Gearing, % |
17.1 |
38.7 |
|
19.4 |
| Net Cash Flow from Operations, EUR million |
9.7 |
-0.9 |
|
68.9 |
| Employees, Average |
3,585 |
3,603 |
|
3,671 |
Christophe Sut, CEO:
“I am proud to present the results of Scanfil’s first quarter of 2024. Our team improved operational efficiency and prepared for future growth.
As expected, we faced lower market demand compared to the corresponding period of 2023. The focus in the first quarter of 2024 was on improving the efficiency of our operations. The outcome was a solid 6.8% operating margin excluding layoff costs and changes in foreign exchange rates. Reported operating profit was EUR 12.7 million, with an operating margin of 6.4%, compared to 6.7% last year.
Our operational focus translated into improvement in many areas that benefit our customers. The on-time delivery rate exceeded 98%, a notable improvement from 92% in the corresponding period last year. Despite the lower turnover level, we managed to reduce our overall inventory by EUR 10.3 million. We worked closely with our suppliers to build flexibility into our operations and to improve our supply chain competitiveness. The combined improvement in operational efficiency and delivery performance was a positive step in positioning the company for future growth.
On the turnover side, we reached EUR 198 million, equivalent to a decrease of -8.6%, excluding spot market purchases. Reported revenue change was negative 11.5% compared to last year.
The Energy & Cleantech segment continued to grow, and several new customer projects were implemented during the quarter. Turnover excluding the energy saving solutions developed positively and increased by +11.3%. The market remains dynamic and strong as several countries and organizations are building infrastructure for energy transformation. Our outlook for the segment remains positive long term. The overall turnover changed by -3.3% compared to last year’s first quarter.
The Industrial, and Medtech & Life Science segments were negatively impacted by demand changes and destocking which continued with some customers. We are continuing to work closely with our customers to adjust operations and inventory to the prevailing market situation. The strong variation in demand we experienced during the last 12 months has created a new situation with our key customers. Our collaboration has become much closer with a true teamwork and partnership mindset.
Our financial position is strong, gearing was 17.1%, and equity ratio was 55.5%. Our solid balance sheet enables us to make the investments required to develop our business. Our net cash flow from operations was EUR 9.7 million, a very positive result in comparison to EUR -0.9 in 2023. Scanfil is well-positioned and very capable of financing the potential expansion of its operations organically and inorganically.
During the quarter, we finalized our strategy update and communicated it during our Capital Markets Day event at the beginning of March.
Empowerment is our new value. The aim is to build both accountability as well as solution-oriented culture across the whole company. This started to be realized and it was very pleasing to see every site took action to adjust their costs to defend their margin and make Scanfil more resilient to business cycle changes. We have clear targets and processes to follow-up KPIs regularly across the organization, and when needed we can take actions for improvements.
In addition, we clarified our market segment focus and have created three sales organizations focused on Industrial, Energy & Cleantech, and Medtech & Life Science customers. The change was implemented during the quarter, and it is creating an improved focus on developing customer relationships and building a stronger pipeline in those segments.
In February, we accelerated our sustainability efforts by committing to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) organization’s Net Zero target by 2050. In addition to the good progress in previous years, we are convinced that this new initiative will increase Scanfil’s competitiveness in its core market. Our commitment was also received positively by our major customers.
The outlook for 2024 will remain two-fold. In the first half of the year, the market is expected to remain sluggish, impacting on our turnover and operating profit. In these circumstances, we will continue to work on protecting the operating margin and preparing for future growth. We expect the market to pick up in the second half of the year allowing us to further improve our performance.
I am proud of the work done by our dynamic team in the quarter to protect our operating margin in a slow market, while continuing to transform and prepare Scanfil for growth and potential acquisitions.” |
