EQS News: SUSS MicroTec SE/ Palabra(s) clave: Capital Markets Day
SUSS MicroTec SE: Management confirms targets up to 2025 at Capital Markets Day | Greater growth potential and increased efficiency until 2030 | Concentration in core semiconductor markets
02.02.2023 / 09:30 MEZ/MEZ
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this advertisement.
SUSS MicroTec: Management confirms targets up to 2025 at Capital Markets Day | Greater growth potential and increased efficiency until 2030 | Concentration in core semiconductor markets
Garching, Germany, February 2, 2023– SUSS MicroTec SE, a leading manufacturer of system and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, today informs the capital market about its strategic future at Capital Markets Day. The focus is on growth prospects through 2030 for the Advanced Backend Solutions and Photomask Equipment business units. Specific activities to enhance value creation in the areas of R&D and operations are just some of the ways in which continuous improvement in profitability will be achieved.
More accurate preliminary results for fiscal year 2022
Following the publication of the first preliminary figures on January 9, 2023, the Board of Management of SUSS MicroTec now assumes that it will have achieved sales of around 300 million euros by the financial year 2022. The strong last quarter contributed significantly to this with sales of around 105 million euros; for the first time, the company achieved quarterly sales in the triple-digit million euro range. At the same time, the value of devices that had already been delivered to customers or were ready for shipment but not yet relevant to sales dropped to around 13 million euros by the end of 2022. As of 30 September 2022, this value was still around 13 million 21 million euros. Incoming orders in the 2022 financial year amounted to around 445 million euros. The ratio between order intake and sales (book-to-bill) was around 1.5.
Gross profit margin for the latest fiscal year is expected to be 36.5-37%, a notable improvement from the prior year figure of 35.8%. This increase is mainly due to the strong fourth quarter with a gross margin of around 40%. “In the last quarter, we really felt that the economies of scale in our organization kicked in when quarterly sales significantly exceeded the €85 million mark. In addition to a very good product mix, the price increases implemented at the beginning of the year will take effect in the second half of the year, and especially in the fourth quarter of 2022," says Oliver Albrecht, CFO of SUSS MicroTec. prices are the company's response to its higher manufacturing costs due to inflation Due to multi-month lead times, which have been longer in the last two years due to continued supply bottlenecks, increases Price changes only have a delayed impact on gross margin.
According to current estimates, the EBIT margin should have reached a value of 10-11% in the last financial year (previous expectation: 8.5-10%). However, it should be noted that the result includes a non-operating effect of €2.8 million from the total liquidation of the US subsidiary SUSS MicroTec Photonic System, Inc. This company was responsible for the UV scanner business until 2019/2020. Production in the US was halted for strategic reasons but resumed in 2021 due to a better order situation and relocated to Taiwan. Stripping out this extraordinary non-operating effect, the EBIT margin currently expected for FY2022 is around 9-10%. The special effect occurred in the last quarter and represented an EBIT margin of around 20% in this period.
Medium-term sales and profit targets for 2025 confirmed
Based on preliminary results for fiscal year 2022, the SUSS MicroTec Board of Directors believes that the company is very well positioned to generate sales of €400 million and an EBIT margin of more than 15% in 2025. "In the fourth quarter From 2022, we impressively demonstrated that our organization is capable of generating quarterly sales of more than 100 million euros and significantly improving our margin", says Dr. Bernd Schulte, CEO of SUSS MicroTec. “The numerous investment programs in the US, Europe, China and Taiwan will lead to the construction of more chip factories and boost the semiconductor equipment industry. We will also benefit from this. In view of our large order book of around EUR 345 million by the end of 2022, we are very confident in our sales target."
SUSS MicroTec intends to achieve a gross margin of around 39-40% in fiscal year 2025. Efficiency gains in the operating business should improve the margin. This includes the modularization and outsourcing of modules that are used in various products and the continuous optimization of processes in manufacturing. “In addition to further price increases to offset higher costs caused by inflation, we want to focus our marketing and sales activities even more on the added value of our systems. This means we need to focus even more with our customers on how our solution affects the total cost of ownership or performance of a process. That has to be the basis for the price of our devices”, explains Dr. Bernd Schulte. Operating expenses (OPEX) are expected to rise at a slower rate than sales to around 100 million euros by the end of 2025.
New vision: "Leader in enabling innovative and advanced backend and photomask solutions"
In recent weeks and months, the management of SUSS MicroTec has been intensively engaged in analyzing the strategic direction of the company. The result is a new vision to be unveiled for the first time at today's Capital Markets Day: "Leading in Enabling Innovative Advanced Backend and Photomask Solutions." Bernd Schulte: “With this mission statement, we describe our own ambitions, our core markets and our product competence. Our customers appreciate our innovative and tailor-made solutions. We can be proud of that. At the same time, we still see great potential to make our company even more successful. We want to define this potential in the coming months and use it to formulate concrete measures”.
From an operational standpoint, the vision focuses on the Advanced Backend Solutions and Photomask Equipment business units, the two units that together contributed more than 85% of total sales in 2022 and support the world's leading semiconductor companies. in your value chain.
The MicroOptics division, which develops and produces highly specialized microlenses and optics for various industrial applications, is not an explicit part of the new vision. With sales of around €40 million, this business contributed around 13% of SUSS MicroTec's total sales in the financial year 2022. “The similarities and synergies between MicroOptics and the other two businesses are limited. The automotive business in the MicroOptics division has experienced strong growth recently, but it must grow even faster in the coming years while reducing its costs. These specific requirements of the automotive supply industry are not part of the typical DNA of SUSS MicroTec", explains Dr. Bernd Schulte. "That is why we are thinking very carefully whether SUSS MicroTec will continue to be the right owner of SUSS MicroOptics in the future. future".
Advanced Backend Solutions: Significant Growth Potential in Cladding and Bonding Areas | Merger of Lithography and Bonder divisions creates synergies
In fiscal 2023, SUSS MicroTec merged the previously independent Lithography and Bonder divisions into the Advanced Backend Solutions business unit. The objective of the reorganization is to identify and realize greater potential for synergy in the development and commercialization of customer solutions. "The new business area strengthens our relationship with new and existing customers because they see us as a one-stop-shop, comprehensive partner and solution provider for imaging, coating and bonding," says Dr. Robert Wanninger, who runs the business as vice president of advanced backend solutions.
The basis for the future success of the Advanced Backend Solutions division is the very strong market position in mask aligners and redressers, as well as the considerable growth potential of SUSS MicroTec in the bonding market. dr. Robert Wanninger: “We are confident that we can significantly improve our position in the bond market. The last two years have shown that we can hold our own against the competition with our solutions. The main reasons for this success are a better cost of ownership for the customer, meaning lower costs to buy and run a system, and a shorter time to market for our solutions.”
SUSS MicroTec sees the greatest potential for growth in the permanent bond. The hybrid joint also belongs to this product area. "We are confident that we can gain a foothold in this still very young market with our hybrid bonding solutions and build a significant market position," explains Stefan Lutter, Vice President R&D at SUSS MicroTec. In cooperation with the French company SET, the company is developing a joint solution for what is known as matrix-to-wafer hybrid bonding. SUSS MicroTec has developed a proprietary wafer-to-wafer bonding solution that is currently being evaluated by a world-leading semiconductor manufacturer in Asia. Hybrid bond solutions could make a big contribution to bond sales in 2030.
In general, the Advanced Backend Solutions division benefits from the "More Than Moore" approach, which aims to increase semiconductor performance through 3D integration of chips on a chip solution. According to a Yole study, this market is expected to grow by 5-8% per year between 2022 and 2027. SUSS MicroTec believes that it can grow faster than the market.
Photomask Equipment: SUSS MicroTec intends to benefit from continued market growth and defend its strong market position | Wafer cleaning as a new growth factor
The Photomask Equipment division focuses on the area of face lithography in semiconductor production. In accordance with the "Moore's Law" approach, technologically leading companies are working with the innovative EUV lithography to continuously improve the structure of semiconductors. SUSS MicroTec plays an important role in this trend by offering systems for the production and cleaning of photomasks. "Our MaskTrack X system is the first qualified solution on the market for EUV-processed 5-nanometer logic devices," said Yuta Nagai, Vice President of Photomask Equipment. "And our solution is more scalable for upcoming technology nodes."
For the period 2020 to 2030, the industry expects average annual growth of around 9% in semiconductor end markets. With its technology leadership position and by far the strongest position in the market, the company looks well positioned to participate in sustained high market growth in the coming years.
In addition, the company is currently working hard to transfer its photomask cleaning expertise to the area of wafer cleaning, which SUSS MicroTec has not yet addressed. Yuta Nagai says: “Initially we are concentrating on wafer cleaning for MEMS applications. The demand and variety of MEMS devices is increasing, while regulations on the use of hazardous chemicals are tightening around the world. Building on our experience cleaning photomasks, our goal is to develop new sustainable solutions by replacing hazardous chemicals and helping customers reduce operating costs." Millions of dollars will grow.
Operations Excellence: Modular product design, module outsourcing, and introduction of lean manufacturing methods, which should lead to significant increases in efficiency
In addition to growth prospects, SUSS MicroTec will also present a strategy for increasing operational efficiency at Capital Markets Day. This area is managed by COO Dr. Thomas Rohe and is responsible for the development and production of all systems. Purchasing, logistics and quality management functions, as well as the order center, report to the COO. The core R&D function was created in December 2022 and is more closely linked to the operational business. “With this move towards a largely centralized R&D organizational structure, we will drive the modularization of hardware and software much more successfully and realize potential synergies. A wafer handling module is required in an automatic coater, for example, as well as a binder. We want to use this platform approach much more consistently across all devices in the future," says Dr. Tomás Rohe. SUSS MicroTec is convinced that the modular product design offers significant economic advantages for complex machines. Since this approach modular is initially only used for new product development projects, the positive effects will only affect the outcome over time.
A modular product structure also increases the possibilities of using more and more external manufacturing partners for individual assemblies in the future. Outsourcing allows you to reduce inventories and increase flexibility. "In addition, we can assign our highly qualified employees to other value-added tasks and use our production capacities more efficiently," explains Dr. Tomás Rohe. The development and configuration of externally created modules and their integration into a customer-specific machine will continue to be carried out exclusively in-house in the future.
A third important building block for achieving continuous increases in efficiency is the introduction of lean manufacturing methods. For example, in the first project implemented, the production time for a manual mask aligner was roughly halved by running the production steps in parallel. “The components are prepared independently of each other and are assembled into the system in the last step. We want to implement this approach consistently in the coming months and years”, says Dr. Tomás Rohe.
Capital Markets Day presentations will be available for download shortly after the event.
Media contact:
Sven Kopsel
Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Email:
Telephone:
About SUSS MicroTec
SUSS MicroTec is a leading provider of systems and process solutions for microengineering in the semiconductor industry and related markets. In close collaboration with research institutes and industrial partners, SUSS MicroTec contributes to the further development of next-generation technologies, such as 3D integration and nanoimprint lithography, as well as key processes for the production of MEMS and LEDs. With a global infrastructure for applications and services, SUSS MicroTec supports more than 8,000 installed systems around the world. SUSS MicroTec is headquartered in Garching, near Munich, Germany. SUSS MicroTec SE shares are listed on the Prime Standard of the German Stock Exchange (ISIN DE000A10K0235). For more information please visit.
Disclaimer
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "expect" , "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "may", "will", "plan" and similar words and Expressions used in connection with the Company are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ in number from expectations. Forward-looking statements reflect opinions at the time they are made.
Contact:
SÜSS MicroTec SE
Sven Kopsel
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Schleissheimer Strasse 90
85748 Garching, Germany
Phone: 1
Email:
02/02/2023 CET/CEST Publication of corporate news/financial news, broadcast by EQS News, a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this advertisement.
EQS distribution services include regulatory announcements, financial/corporate news, and press releases.
Archive at -news.com