Menu

Solder Paste Inspection | 3D SPI


Conformal Coating Inspection


Check out the new media library

Here you can download product brochures, white papers, case studies and more

> To the media library

You are here:

Viscom AG achieves record revenue and earnings in 2017 financial year and anticipates further growth in 2018

News

Incoming orders: € 90,250 thousand (previous year: € 83,498 thousand, +8.1 %)
Revenue: € 88,542 thousand (previous year: € 77,245 thousand, +14.6 %)
Operating profit (EBIT): € 13,829 thousand (previous year: € 10,497 thousand, +31.7 %).
EBIT-Margin: 15.6 % (previous year: 13.6 %).
Net profit for the period: € 9,073 thousand (previous year: € 7,129 thousand, +27.3 %)
Dividend proposal: € 0.60 per dividend-bearing share

Hanover, 21 March 2018 – Viscom AG (ISIN DE0007846867), the European market leader for
automated optical inspection systems in the electronics industry, met its forecasts for 2017 and
successfully continued on its growth path with revenue of € 88.5 million and an EBIT-Margin of 15.6 %.


Incoming orders in the 2017 financial year increased by a substantial 8.1 % year-on-year to € 90,250
thousand (previous year: € 83,498 thousand). This encouraging figure represents the sustained high
level of interest among Viscom’s existing major customers. Viscom also generated double-digit growth
in consolidated revenue, which rose by 14.6 % to € 88,542 million (previous year: € 77,245 thousand).
Operating profit (EBIT) improved by as much as 31.7 % to € 13,829 million (previous year: € 10,497
thousand). Accordingly, the EBIT-Margin increased from 13.6 % in the previous year to 15.6 % in the
2017 financial year. Net profit for the period increased by 27.3 %, from € 7,129 thousand in the previous
year to € 9,073 thousand. On the basis of 8,885,060 shares, earnings per share therefore amounted to
€ 1.02 (previous year: € 0.80).
The Group’s extremely positive development was driven by excellent performance in all regions and
divisions. In 2017 alone, Viscom increased its revenue from serial products by 17.3 % and its revenue
from services by an outstanding 21.4 % year-on-year. At 15 %, the share of revenue attributable to
special products remained largely unchanged as against the previous year (17 %).
Europe was by far the strongest regional market, accounting for around 57 % of the Viscom Group’s
revenue. Revenue in this region remained essentially unchanged year-on-year at € 50,784 thousand
(previous year: € 50,553 thousand). Due to higher inter-segment revenue of € 23,919 thousand
(previous year: € 17,770 thousand) and capitalised development costs, segment earnings in this region
increased by around 32 % to € 10,748 thousand (previous year: € 8,113 thousand).
Revenue in the Americas region also rose by around 29 %, from € 10,530 thousand in the previous year
to € 13,557 thousand. Projects involving X-ray inspection systems accounted for an increased share of
revenue in 2017. In addition to the sustained strength of automotive supply business, orders were
gained in the fields of aviation, e-mobility and alternative power generation. At € 1,389 thousand,
segment earnings in the Americas region were up around 78 % on the corresponding prior-year figure
(€ 780 thousand).
In Asia, Viscom again expanded its business activities with high-end inspection systems compared with
the previous year, reinforcing its market leadership for the combined optical and X-ray inspection of
assemblies across a number of customer segments. In addition to growth driven by series business,
customers showed increased interest in wire bond inspection solutions. Revenue in the Asia region rose by around 50 %, from € 16,162 thousand in 2016 to € 24,201 thousand in 2017. At € 2,105 thousand,
segment earnings were higher than in the previous year (€ 1,536 thousand).
Viscom’s aim is to allow its shareholders to participate in the Group’s positive economic development.
The Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend payment of € 0.60 per dividendbearing
share to the Annual General Meeting on 30 May 2018. This corresponds to a dividend yield of
2.0 % based on the closing share price at the end of 2017.
Viscom operates in an extremely strong growth market: The continued upturn in the proportion of
electronics and the ongoing miniaturisation of electronic components are the driving factors behind the
market potential enjoyed by Viscom’s inspection systems. They are also the market developments
behind megatrends like e-mobility and autonomous vehicles. These advancements are continuously
creating new and more stringent process and quality requirements. Viscom’s customers meet these
requirements by using the Group’s technologies to guarantee the quality of complex assemblies.
Industry 4.0, which is now fairly well established, is increasingly being accompanied by calls for the use
of artificial intelligence, and particularly for specific projects for applications in electronics production and
quality assurance. There are two reasons why Viscom is already excellently positioned compared with
its competitors in this respect: Firstly, it offers a complete technology portfolio for the inspection industry.
This means it can boast in-depth process expertise and has already developed intelligent system
communications on the production line with the Quality Uplink. Secondly, Viscom has also been
investing in research in this area for many years and is working internally, represented by a team of IT
specialists, on various specific implementations for applications in industrial production in the near
future.


This gives it extremely strong foundations for continuing to gain market share and remaining firmly on its growth path in future. The management of Viscom AG is forecasting revenue of between € 93 million
and € 98 million and an EBIT-Margin of between 13 % and 15 % for the 2018 financial year. An order
backlog of € 19.8 million at the end of 2017 represents a good starting point for achieving this.
The 2017 Annual Report is now available in the Investor Relations section at www.viscom.com/europe.

Publication advice

Upon publication please send two voucher copies to:

Viscom AG
Marketing
Carl-Buderus-Straße 9 - 15
30455 Hannover