PVA TePla: Sales and EBITDA for 2023 expected at upper end of guidance range after strong third quarter.

• Sales up 46% to EUR 191.2 million in the first nine months
• Further improvement of profitability: EBITDA margin rises to 15.2%
• Order backlog remains high at almost EUR 300 million
• Continued focus on structural growth: “Our market-leading solutions are already contributing significantly to the realization of innovations in our targeted markets with mobility, decarbonization and digitalization as the prevailing megatrends. This allows us to expand into new markets and reach out to new customers,” says Jalin Ketter, Speaker of the Management Board.

PVA TePla, Wettenberg, a technology provider for high-tech systems, generated sales of EUR 191.2 million in the first nine months of the current year. This represents substantial growth of 46% compared with the same period of the previous year (EUR 131.0 million). Both segments of PVA TePla significantly contributed to this achievement. Sales in the Semiconductor Systems segment increased by 41% year-on-year, from EUR 94.8 million to EUR 133.8 million, while sales in the Industrial Systems segment saw above-average growth of 59% to EUR 57.4 million after EUR 36.2 million in the previous year. In light of its strong performance in the first three quarters, the company expects its full-year results to reach the upper end of the guidance, which corresponds with sales of EUR 240 to 260 million and EBITDA of between EUR 36 million and EUR 40 million.

All in all, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 29.1 million in the period under review after EUR 16.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. The EBITDA margin based on sales increased significantly to 15.2% compared with 12.6% in the previous year. After depreciation, the operating result (EBIT) amounted to EUR 23.9 million as against EUR 13.1 million in the first nine months of 2022. This corresponds to an EBIT margin of 12.5% (9M 2022: 10.0%). Earnings after taxes also increased substantially to EUR 16.7 million compared with EUR 8.0 million in the same period last year.

“Our market-leading solutions are already contributing significantly to the realization of innovations in our targeted markets with mobility, decarbonization and digitalization as the prevailing megatrends. This allows us to expand into new markets and reach out to new customers,” says Jalin Ketter, Speaker of the Management Board. “Thanks to our broad-based technology portfolio we intend to become even less dependent on market cycles in the future. One example is our relatively young metrology business, which already stands for a substantial proportion of our sales.”

Innovation, capacity and infrastructure
With its systems and technologies, PVA TePla Group enables the development and production of new materials and fields of application that form the basis for a wide range of innovative processes and applications. This includes semiconductors and power electronics components, which enjoy a high level of demand in the areas of mobility, decarbonization leading to the development of alternative energy sources, network expansion, and digitalization. Based on that PVA TePla Group intends to sustain its growth on a broaded basis.

The PVA TePla Group will support this targeted structural growth with the necessary investments. Already in the current FY 2023, more than EUR 10 million will be invested in the expansion of production capacities in Wettenberg and Schio (Italy) as well as in a modernized IT infrastructure. "As part of the implementation of our growth strategy, we will invest significantly in the expansion of our know-how, our sales and service organization worldwide and in our production capacities, particularly in Europe," says Oliver Höfer, COO.

At the same time, PVA TePla is continuously investing in research and development in order to drive the continuous development of its innovative technologies and products. In the first nine months of 2023 alone, R&D expenditure increased by 43% to EUR 6.3 million compared with EUR 4.4 million in the previous year.

Order backlog remains at a high level
At the reporting date, the PVA TePla Group had a high order backlog of EUR 297.3 million (9M 2022: EUR 344 million). In line with the growth strategy, the order book is spread across a large number of customers and orders. At EUR 203.1 million, around two-thirds of the order backlog is attributable to the Semiconductor Systems segment (9M 2022: EUR 245.7 million), with the Industrial Systems segment accounting for around one-third or EUR 94.2 million (9M 2022: EUR 98.2 million). The Group’s incoming orders amounted to EUR 177.6 million in the period under review (9M 2022: EUR 191.3 million), which further underlines the strength of the technology portfolio.

Full-year figures for 2023 expected to reach upper end of forecast range
In light of its performance year-to-date, PVA TePla expects its full-year figures to reach the upper end of its guidance, which corresponds with sales of EUR 240 to 260 million and EBITDA of between EUR 36 million and EUR 40 million.