Weak demand from the machine construction, semiconductor equipment and automotive industries, combined with export restrictions due to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine, has caused Jenoptik to revise its 2014 revenue and earnings guidance despite high order intakes.
On the condition that a major international order in the Jenoptik’s Defence and Civil Systems segment can still be completed by year-end, the group revenue for the current fiscal year is expected to be around €600 million (prior year €600.3 million). Group operating result (EBIT) is predicted to total around €50 million (prior year €52.7 million).
The company said the guidance applies provided that uncertainties in the defence business will not increase over the coming weeks.
The prior guidance for 2014 included revenue growth of around 5 per cent and Group EBIT of approximately €55 million.
Demand from the machine construction, semiconductor equipment and automotive industries was significantly weaker in recent weeks, the company stated, and remained substantially below the expectations of Jenoptik, thus negatively impacting on the Lasers and Optical Systems and Metrology segments. This is even though the company has received several orders from automotive suppliers in both North America and Asia.
The increasingly stringent armament export restrictions issued by the German government due to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine will also result in lost revenue for the Jenoptik Group. The company said lost revenue could be in the low double-digit million euro range for the Defence and Civil Systems segment.
‘Current economic figures and market conditions are noticeably impacting on our customers’ capital spending patterns. In view of this, our projected growth targets for 2014, despite a significantly improved year-on-year Group order intake, are no longer achievable,’ says Michael Mertin, president and CEO of Jenoptik.
‘The good order situation has, however, created the conditions for profitable growth in the coming fiscal year,’ added chief financial officer Rüdiger Andreas Günther.
In the medium-term, the company now anticipates annual revenue of around €800 million with an average EBIT margin of 9 to 10 per cent over the market cycles, and including smaller corporate acquisitions, to be achieved in 2018, one year later than originally planned.
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