– Incoming orders Euro 322.5 million (2020: Euro 181.6 million, +78 %)

– EBITDA Euro 44.5 million (2020: Euro 34.6 million, +29 %)

– Earnings before taxes Euro 28.0 million (2020: Euro 20.4 million, +37 %)

– Earnings after taxes Euro 20.8 million (2020: Euro 15.1 million, 38 %)

– Result per share Euro 2.08 (2020: Euro 1.51, +38 %)

– Free cash flow Euro 10.0 million (2020: Euro 14.0 million)

– Forecast 2022: Sales Euro 235 – 265 million, pre-tax return 9 – 12 %

Basler AG, a leading supplier of image processing components for computer vision applications, is releasing the audited annual report for fiscal year 2021 today.

In a strong market environment which was significantly impacted by bottlenecks for semiconductor components, the Basler group’s sales grew by 26 % to Euro 214.7 million in financial year 2021 (previous year: Euro 170.5 million). Incoming orders increased by 78 % to Euro 322.5 million (previous year: Euro 181.6 million). Thus, the company set new records for incoming orders and sales. The earnings before taxes increased by 37 % to Euro 28.0 million (previous year: Euro 20.4 million). In contrast, for the elapsed fiscal year 2021, the VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, German Engineering Federation) reported an increase in sales of 17 % for the German manufacturers of image processing components. According to VDMA, incoming orders of the industry increased by 28 % in the same period of time.

The pre-tax margin amounted to 13.0 % (previous year: 12.0 %). %). With these results, despite a cyberattack in November, Basler achieved the forecast communicated to the capital market. The forecast provided for sales of Euro 210 – 220 million at a pre-tax margin of 13 – 15 % for 2021.

The free cash flow as sum of the cash flow from operating activities and the cash flow from investments reached a value of Euro 10.0 million (previous year: Euro 14.0 million). In the second half-year, this was significantly burdened by increasing inventories due to missing parts as well as a strong sales and a subsequent increase of accounts receivables in December.

In line with the company’s dividend policy, the annual shareholders’ meeting 2022 will propose to pay a dividend of Euro 0.62 per share for the financial year 2021. This corresponds to approximately Euro 6.2 million, respectively 30 % of the net result of financial year 2021.

Basler closed the financial year 2021 with an extremely strong order backlog of Euro 140.9 million. The company starts the new financial year with particularly full order books at a book-to-bill ratio of almost 1.5. Also in financial year 2022, the challenging procurement of semiconductor components will presumably be the limiting growth factor. Furthermore, the war in the Ukraine and the associated political unrest lead to new uncertainties, the effects of which are currently difficult to predict.

However, the strong order backlog and the recent sales signals in all sales regions, in principle, make the management optimistic for the new fiscal year. Based on current information, the Basler group plans to achieve sales within a corridor of Euro 235 – 265 million in fiscal year 2022. Depending on sales, this would result in a pre-tax return between 9 – 12 %. The basis of this assessment is an ongoing strong investment cycle associated with slight improvements in the supply chains. The relatively broad corridor reflects the current momentum in the sales and procurement markets as well as the integration of the recently acquired distribution partners in Korea. This forecast is consistent with the medium-term target to achieve sales of Euro 400 until the end of 2025, at an average EBT margin of 12 %.

The full annual report can be found on the company’s website (www.baslerweb.com).