AIXTRON - growth trajectory continued

AIXTRON - growth trajectory continued

Revenue growth of 36% yoy / Record revenues in Q4 2023 / New G10 system generation successfully launched on the market / EU taxonomy-aligned share of revenues rising again / Further growth expected for 2024 and 2025 

Herzogenrath, Germany, February 29, 2024 – AIXTRON SE (FWB: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) has successfully continued its growth path in the fiscal year 2023 with an increase in revenues year-on-year of 36%. The leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry achieved significant growth in all financial key figures and fully met its growth guidance for the full year 2023. This was driven by the continued strong demand for efficient power electronics based on gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC).  AIXTRON was also once again able to significantly improve the EU taxonomy-aligned revenues, a further increase over the record figures achieved in 2022.

The business received a strong additional boost by the launch of AIXTRON's new products G10-AsP and G10-GaN. Both are innovative systems for the efficient production of compound semiconductors. The G10-AsP was first introduced in January 2023, followed by the G10-GaN in September 2023. Even before the official launch, the G10-GaN was awarded by a leading global semiconductor company for its outstanding performance. With this, the G10 tool generation is now fully and successfully launched on the market. It is already enjoying high demand shortly after its market launch: The new G10-SiC, available since September 2022, already accounted for about one third of AIXTRON's total equipment revenue in the fiscal year 2023.
 

Strong growth in revenues

Revenues in the fiscal year 2023 increased by 36% year-on-year to EUR 629.9 million (2022: EUR 463.2 million). This revenue growth was largely driven by systems for power electronics based on SiC and GaN. These in 2023 accounted for 74% of the equipment revenue share (2022: 42%). Further revenues were generated in the areas of optoelectronics (12%) and LEDs incl. Micro LEDs (11%).

Record deliveries in the fourth quarter

In terms of shipments,  AIXTRON achieved a record in the fourth quarter 2023: In Q4/2023, revenues reached EUR 214.2 million – a further significant increase of 17% compared to the already strong prior-year quarter (Q4/2022: EUR 183.2 million). This equals around three times the revenues of the first quarter of the fiscal year (Q1/2023: EUR 77.2 million), which underlines the flexibility of AIXTRON's supply chain and operating model.

Strong growth in order intake

In the fiscal year 2023, AIXTRON once again exceeded the strong order intake of the previous year and recorded a growth of 9%. Orders totaling EUR 640.7 million were recorded in fiscal year 2023 (2022: EUR 585.9 million). These included numerous and major orders from some of the world's most important players in the semiconductor industry.

With EUR 204.5 million, incoming orders in the fourth quarter of 2023 were 28% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year (EUR 160.3 million).

Driven by this overall positive order trend, the high level of the equipment order backlog in 2023 was at EUR 353.7 million, slightly higher than in 2022 (EUR 351.8 million).

Significant increase in gross profit and gross margin

Driven by the strong revenue growth, gross profit in 2023 was EUR 279.0 million, an impressive increase of 43% compared to the previous year (2022: EUR 195.3 million).

In the final quarter, gross profit was at EUR 98.2 million, up 19% versus the same quarter last year (Q4/2022: EUR 82.2 million).

Gross margin for the full year 2023 increased by two percentage points compared to 2022, reaching 44% (2022: 42%). In the fourth quarter of 2023, gross margin was 46% compared to 45% in the same period of the previous year.

Investing into revenues of the future

In 2023, AIXTRON started the construction of the new AIXTRON Innovation Center at its headquarters in Herzogenrath. On site, AIXTRON is investing around EUR 100 million in a new clean room for the development and testing of the next generation of systems. The project was fully planned in 2023, the ground-breaking ceremony took place in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the floor slab of the main building was already completed at the turn of the year. The structural work is currently underway and the project is right on schedule.

The Innovation Center, as well as all other investments in research and development (R&D), are essential elements in continuing to address customer expectations and to drive innovation forward.  Accordingly, in the year 2023 AIXTRON consciously made substantial investments in R&D: With EUR 87.7 million, the high level of the previous year was significantly exceeded (2022: EUR 57.7 million). Total operating expenses in 2023 amounted to EUR 122.3 million, compared to EUR 90.6 million in the same period of 2022.

50% growth in operating result (EBIT) and 45% increase in net profit for the year

In the fiscal year 2023, AIXTRON recorded an impressive 50% growth  year-on-year in its operating result (EBIT) to EUR 156.8 million (2022: EUR 104.7 million). The EBIT margin reached a strong  25%, up two percentage points versus the previous year, demonstrating AIXTRON's continued high profitability. The fourth quarter was particularly strong, with revenues of EUR 63.4 million and an EBIT margin of 30% (Q4/2022: EUR 57.1 million, 31%).

The consolidated net profit for the full year 2023 increased by 45% year-on-year to EUR 145.2 million (2022: EUR 100.5 million). Earnings per share improved significantly to EUR 1.29 (2022: EUR 0.89).

Financial position

Free cash flow in the 2023 fiscal year was EUR -109.7 million (2022: EUR 7.7 million). The difference compared to the previous year is mainly the result of higher receivables as of the balance sheet date, increased investments in fixed assets, in particular the new AIXTRON Innovation Center, as well as a build-up of inventories in preparation of the anticipated high revenues in the following quarters.

As of December 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents including financial assets amounted to EUR 181.7 million (2022: EUR 325.2 million).

The high equity ratio of 75% (as of December 31, 2022; previous year 73%) underlines AIXTRON's  financial strength.

Substantial increase in dividend

In view of the very positive business development in the past fiscal year, AIXTRON plans to pay out a higher dividend again. The Executive Board and Supervisory Board will therefore propose to the Annual General Meeting on May 15, 2024 to pay a dividend of EUR 0.40 per share (2022: EUR 0.31 per share). This represents a year-on-year increase in the dividend of 29%.

Given the strongly growing core business, the number of employees in the group increased in 2023 by 21% to a total of 1086 compared to the 895 employees at the end of 2022. As in previous years, the majority of the employees are based in Europe.

EU-Taxonomy-aligned figures increased again

AIXTRON has been reporting taxonomy aligned figures in accordance with the EU Taxonomy Regulation since the fiscal year 2021. In the fiscal year 2023, the taxonomy-aligned record revenues reached in 2022 were increased again and amounted to EUR 462.5 million or 73% (2022: EUR 270.9 million, 58%). The taxonomy-aligned operating expenses (OpEx) rose to EUR 59.4 million or 65% (2022: EUR 44.7 million, 73%). The taxonomy-aligned capital expenditures (CapEx) in 2023 increased to EUR 49.6 million or 79% (2022: EUR 13.6 million, 38%), mainly due to investments for the Innovation Center. These high results very impressively underline the sustainability AIXTRON’s business.

Extension of Contract for CFO Dr. Christian Danninger

The Supervisory Board has extended Dr. Christian Danninger's contract and appointment as Chief Financial Officer until 30 April 2029, expressing its confidence that he will continue to play a key role in AIXTRON's development in the coming years.

 
Guidance 2024: Continued growth expected

For the year 2024, the Executive Board expects a further growth in demand for AIXTRON tools, which is expected to lead to further revenue growth in 2024. Based on the current corporate structure, the estimated development of the order intake, and the budget exchange rate of 1.15 USD/EUR (2023: 1.15 USD/EUR), the Executive Board expects revenues in the fiscal year 2024 in the range of EUR 630 million to EUR 720 million, a gross margin of approximately 43% to 45%, and an EBIT margin of approximately 24% to 26%. For the first quarter of 2024, the Executive Board expects revenues to range between EUR 100 million and EUR 120 million.

In addition, the Executive Board expects AIXTRON to continue the successful growth path in 2025, targeting a strong increase in revenues driven by the next growth momentum in power electronics. Revenues in optoelectronics are anticipated to remain stable in 2025.

"We were able to significantly increase our revenues in 2023 and successfully launched our new G10 system generation on the market. Our customers rely on AIXTRON systems for their high-volume GaN and SiC production because they are impressed by the performance of our products and the support they receive from our customer service. This is both a commitment and a motivation for us: we do not stop at what we have achieved, but are already working on the next innovations to make our customers successful. Therefore, in 2023 we started to build our new AIXTRON Innovation Center, which fully supports this strategy," says Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO and President of AIXTRON SE.

"Our success in 2023 is reflected in our excellent financial results, which are primarily based on environmentally sustainable revenues. We are proud that our technologies make a significant contribution to solving global challenges. These include reducing CO₂ emissions, improving energy efficiency, facilitating the transition to sustainable mobility, and connecting people and things. Here, we follow a holistic approach that considers technical, social as well as environmental impacts of our actions, as we are aware of our responsibility towards our customers, employees, partners, shareholders and society," says Dr. Christian Danninger, CFO of AIXTRON SE.

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Financial information

The presentation of the full-year 2023 results is available at:
www.aixtron.com/en/investors/publications/ir-presentations
 

The complete financial tables of the Group (income statement, other comprehensive income, balance sheet, cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity) relating to this press release are available as part of the Annual Report 2023 at:
www.aixtron.com/en/investors/publications

There, the Non-financial Group Report ("Sustainability Report") 2023 of AIXTRON SE including details on the application of the EU taxonomy is also available.
 

Investor conference call

In conjunction with the release of the full-year 2023 results, AIXTRON will host a conference call (in English) for analysts and investors on Thursday, February 29, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. CET (06:00 a.m. PST, 09:00 a.m. EST). You can dial into the conference from 3:45 p.m. CET (05:45 a.m. PST, 08:45 a.m. EST) on the following telephone number: +49 69 247501895 or +1 516-269-8974.

An audio recording or transcript can be found after the conference at:
www.aixtron.com/en/investors/events/conference-calls

Contact

Media:
Ragah Dorenkamp
Director Corporate Communications
fon +49 (2407) 9030-1830
e-mail r.dorenkamp@aixtron.com

Investors:
Carsten Werle
Director Investor Relations (interim)
fon +49 (2407) 9030-8815
e-mail c.werle.sc@aixtron.com

About AIXTRON

AIXTRON SE is a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry. The Company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Herzogenrath (near Aachen), Germany, with subsidiaries and sales offices in Asia, United States and in Europe. AIXTRON´s technology solutions are used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to build advanced components for electronic and optoelectronic applications based on compound semiconductor materials. Such components are used in a broad range of innovative applications, technologies, and industries. These include Laser and LED applications, display technologies, data transmission, SiC and GaN power management and conversion, communication, signaling and lighting as well as a range of other leading-edge applications.

Our registered trademarks: AIXACT®, AIXTRON®, Close Coupled Showerhead®, EXP®, EPISON®, Gas Foil Rotation®, Optacap®, OVPD®, Planetary Reactor®, PVPD®, STexS®, TriJet®

For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) please visit our website at: www.aixtron.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements regarding the business, results of operations, financial condition and earnings outlook of AIXTRON. These statements may be identified by words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “contemplate”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “continue” and “estimate” and variations of such words or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on our current assessments, expectations and assumptions, of which many are beyond control of AIXTRON, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Should these risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying expectations not occur or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of AIXTRON may materially vary from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. This could result from a variety of factors, such as actual customer orders received by AIXTRON, the level of demand for deposition technology in the market, the timing of final acceptance of products by customers, the condition of financial markets and access to financing for AIXTRON, general conditions in the market for deposition plants and macroeconomic conditions, cancellations, rescheduling or delays in product shipments, production capacity constraints, extended sales and qualification cycles, difficulties in the production process, the general development in the semi-conductor industry, increased competition, fluctuations in exchange rates, availability of public funding, fluctuations and/or changes in interest rates, delays in developing and marketing new products, a deterioration of the general economic situation and any other factors discussed in any reports or other announcements , in particular in the chapter Risks in the Annual Report, filed by AIXTRON. Any forward-looking statements contained in this document are based on current expectations and projections of the executive board based on information available the date hereof. AIXTRON undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless expressly required to do so by law. 

This document is an English language translation of a document in German language. In case of discrepancies, the German language document shall prevail and shall be the valid version.