Pfeiffer Vacuum Announces Results for Q1/2014

“As expected sales in the first quarter were roughly on the same level as last year’s quarter, the EBIT margin was slightly lower due to FX effects“, comments Manfred Bender, CEO of Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG.

“While order intake during the first quarter was 3 percent lower than in the prior year quarter, it showed an improvement of 14 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.” Bender explains further: “Due to the timing of various customer projects we continue to expect higher sales and an improved EBIT margin in the second half of the year. We also see potential beyond 2014 especially in the semiconductor and coating market segments.”

The development of sales in the various market segments and regions was once again a mixed picture:

The distribution of sales by market segment showed a 9 percent increase in semiconductor to € 28.3 million (Q1/2013: € 26.0 million). Sales in the industry segment decreased 2 percent to € 27.1 million (Q1/2013: € 27.7 million). A similar development was witnessed in analytics where sales declined 6 percent to € 18.6 million (Q1/2013: € 19.9 million). The sales contribution from the research and development segment diminished 10 percent to € 12.3 million (Q1/2013: € 13.6 million), while the coating market segment’s sales fell by 4 percent to also € 12.3 million in the period reported (Q1/2013: € 12.8 million).

In Europe, sales in the first quarter of 2014 were virtually unchanged at € 46.6 million (Q1/2013: € 46.9 million). Sales in Asia increased one percent to € 31.7 million (Q1/2013: € 31.4 million) during the stated period, while the Americas experienced a sales decline of 7 percent – leading to a figure of € 20.0 million (Q1/2013: € 21.5 million).

Concerning product sales, the service business showed a slight decline of one percent to € 20.4 million (Q1/2013: € 20.7 million). Backing pump sales experienced a decline of 4 percent to € 21.0 million (Q1/2013: € 21.9 million). Sales of instruments and components stagnated at € 24.1 million (Q1/2013: € 24.1 million). The decline in turbopump sales amounted to 2 percent which led to a figure of € 31.1 million (Q1/2013: € 31.8 million); in systems, sales grew by 18 percent to € 1.9 million (Q1/2013: € 1.6 million).

Order intake in the first quarter of 2014 totaled € 100.7 million and was hence down 3 percent versus the previous year’s corresponding figure (Q1/2013: € 104.1 million). Compared to the prior quarter, however, this translated to an increase of 14 percent (Q4/2013: € 88.5 million). The book-to-bill ratio, the ratio of order intake to sales, was at 1.02 for the year through March 31, 2014 (March 31, 2013: 1.04). The order backlog of € 63.1 million on stated date was 17 percent below the corresponding figure a year earlier (March 31, 2013: € 75.9 million).

In spite of the 1.4 percent downturn in group sales, Pfeiffer Vacuum’s gross profit margin rose by 0.9 percentage points to 36.5 percent in the first quarter of 2014 (Q1/2013: 35.6 percent). The period’s operating profit of € 10.2 million was 8.2 percent below the prior year’s relevant figure (Q1/2013: € 11.1 million). This resulted in an EBIT margin of 10.4 percent (Q1/2013: 11.1 percent). Net income was 8.9 percent lower at € 6.9 million (Q1/2013: € 7.5 million) and translated to earnings per share of € 0.70 for the reported first quarter of 2014 (Q1/2013: € 0.76).