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BASLER AG, a leading manufacturer of computer vision components, is presenting today figures for the first three months of 2022.

The Basler Group started the new year strongly with a sales growth of 21 % to € 66.3 million (previous year: € 54.6 million) and an increase in incoming orders of 25 % to € 84.2 million (previous year: € 67.3 million). The company thus set a new sales record, and incoming orders remained at a very high level for the fourth quarter. Compared to the very profitable first quarter of 2021, earnings before taxes were also very high, however, decreased by 7 % to € 9.2 million (previous year: € 9.9 million). By contrast, the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) reported a 13 % increase in sales for the German manufacturers of image processing components, not adjusted for prices, for the 2022 financial year so far. According to VDMA, incoming orders of the industry increased by 16 % in the same period.

Despite the continuing shortage of semiconductor components, expensive interim purchases and special effects due to the acquisition of distributors in Korea, the Basler Group kept the gross margins on the level of the second half year of 2021 and – after two weaker quarters – returned to a higher pre-tax return margin of approximately 14 % (previous year: 18 %).

The free cash flow as sum of the operating cash flow and the cash flow from investments reached a value of € -28.1 million (previous year: € 1.0 million). It includes extraordinary effects from the M&A transactions in Korea. In addition, the operating cash flow was particularly burdened by the build-up of raw material inventories, as only a few critical parts limited the targeted production volume, and the material therefore accumulated. The bottlenecks on the chip markets continued and resulted in a clearly positive book-to-bill ratio for the sixth quarter in succession.

The Basler Group closed the first three months of the financial year 2022 very successfully and according to its growth forecast. Due to the continuing strong demand in the first quarter as well as the very high order backlog of around € 150 million at the end of the first quarter, the management is in principle positive about the further course of the year. Even though the first quarter business level is at the upper end of the guidance range, management maintains its guidance due to the early stage in the year, the ongoing chip crisis, the recent lockdowns in China, and geopolitical and economic uncertainties. It forecasts group sales between € 235 – 265 million at a pre-tax return rate of 9 – 12 %.

The full quarterly report is available on the company’s website (www.baslerweb.com).