Sustainable corporate management and sustainability strategy

 Who we are and what we do
 

The AIXTRON Group (“AIXTRON” or “the Company”) is a leading provider of deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Herzogenrath (Aachen region) with branches and representative offices in Europe, the USA, and Asia. At the end of 2022, we employed a total of 940 people (headcount). Since 2020, AIXTRON has been listed in the MDAX in addition to the TecDAX.

AIXTRON's business activities include the development, production, and installation of systems for the deposition of complex semiconductor materials, the development of process technologies, consulting, and training as well as customer support.

Our products are used by customers worldwide to manufacture high-performance components for power electronic and optoelectronic applications based on compound semiconductors. These devices are used in a variety of innovative applications, technologies and industries. These include, for example, Micro LED and display technologies, data transmission, communication, signaling and lighting technology, sensors and power electronics based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), as well as many other demanding high-tech applications.

In the 2022 reporting year, we invested EUR 58 million (2021: EUR 57 million) in research and development with revenues of EUR 463 million (2021: EUR 429 million). This corresponds to around 13% of our revenues, with an equity ratio of 74% (2021: 80%). Asia accounted for the lion's share of our revenues at almost 68% (2021: 70%), followed by Europe at 14% (2021: 20%) and North America at 18% (2021: 10%).

Our self-image and our values

In addition to economic success, our business activities also focus on ecological and social challenges. Sustainability is a prerequisite for long-term economic success.

As a supplier to pioneering key industry, we conduct our business prudently and responsibly, taking into account the interests of key stakeholders. The aim is to act sustainably at all levels of the value chain and to further promote sustainability in the company.

Acting responsibly is one of four corporate values at AIXTRON and is therefore a central part of our corporate culture. The Board of Directors and our managers have a particular responsibility and act as role models.

As a future-oriented technology company, efficient and resource-optimized management has always been part of our core business. Thanks to our technologies and systems, semiconductors are becoming more and more efficient and resource-saving, which increases the efficiency of a large number of end products.

This applies to applications from areas such as energy supply, electromobility, entertainment electronics, or communication. Our products thus contribute to reducing not only our own ecological footprint but also that of our customers and especially that of the end consumers in these areas (see also the chapter on innovations as a competitive factor).

Our sustainability strategy

In recent years, sustainability has been increasingly anchored in our company as an important principle of corporate management. The cornerstone for our current strategy was laid in 2018. Two years later, concrete sustainability goals were defined and incentivized by the Supervisory Board and Board of Directors. In doing so, we have also given non-financial goals greater weight.

An important goal as part of our sustainability strategy was to become carbon neutral, which we achieved in 2019. We obtain our electricity from renewable energies and compensate for all unavoidable CO2 emissions through climate protection projects. The goal of climate neutrality was thus achieved much earlier than the goals set by the federal government for industry.

Since 2021 we have also been reporting on the upstream value chain (Scope 3). This analysis was further optimized in the current reporting year. We also determined the values for the previous year according to the new, stricter criteria and adjusted them retrospectively.

This corresponds to our claim to continuously improve our sustainability activities, the associated guidelines, standards and programs. In this way, we can better meet the needs and expectations of our stakeholders.

Against this background, we have defined five priority topics in our sustainability strategy.

Some of these topics were defined in our “Sustainability Policy” and are also based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The SDGs we support relate to the following goals:

• No poverty
• Health and well-being
• Quality education
• Gender equality
• Affordable and clean energy
• Decent work and economic growth
• Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• Sustainable consumption and production
• Measures for climate protection
• Life on land

These goals serve as orientation for our daily and strategic work.

Identification of material issues

In 2020, we systematically created a materiality analysis for the first time, thereby creating a comprehensive process that evaluates economic, ecological and social issues that are important to us. The focus is on aspects that have a significant impact on the company. To this end, internal experts and employees who are in constant contact with our stakeholders were surveyed. In 2022, we further optimized our process and already aligned it with the future Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In particular, both the inside-out and the outside-in perspectives were taken into account when deriving key subject areas.

We were also able to cover the external perspective through a comprehensive internal survey, which was based on the expertise and many years of experience of our employees. As a result, five topic clusters were defined, which we have shown in the overview below. In the 2022 reporting year, we reviewed this allocation and made the necessary changes. The following two overviews illustrate the importance of the respective topic complexes and their chronological classification - across all stakeholders.

The following overview shows the stakeholders' assessment of the respective time horizon of the subject areas considered to be material.

In the following overview, the subject areas considered essential by the stakeholders are assigned to the three overarching subject areas of environment, social affairs, and corporate management.

Organizational anchoring

The Board of Directors of AIXTRON SE bears overall responsibility for the topic of sustainability. It is advised by the ESG and Sustainability department and decides on important sustainability issues. The respective departments and branches of AIXTRON SE are responsible for implementing the goals and projects decided by the Board of Directors. The sustainability working group consists of those responsible for the respective topic, e.g. B. innovation, technology, energy management, human resources, works council, compliance, quality assurance or purchasing. The aim is to develop relevant sustainability topics along the corporate strategy, to strengthen awareness of sustainable management, and to anchor it in all areas of the company. Within the working group, those responsible regularly report actively on the progress of individual projects in the company and drive them forward. The cornerstones of our sustainability management for all units of AIXTRON SE are formally and bindingly laid down in our CSR guidelines.