AIXTRON: Revenues and Order Intake continued to increase in Q2/2017 / 2017 Revenues and Order Intake Guidance raised / AIXTRON on Track to return to Profitability in 2018

AIXTRON: Revenues and Order Intake continued to increase in Q2/2017

2017 Revenues and Order Intake Guidance raised

AIXTRON on Track to return to Profitability in 2018

Herzogenrath/Germany, July 25, 2017 - AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA), a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, today announced its financial results for the first half and the second quarter 2017.

Total order intake including spares and service in H1/2017 came to EUR 128.5m, 34% higher than in the previous year (H1/2016: EUR 95.5m). Sequentially, order intake improved by 8% to EUR 66.6m Q1/2017: EUR 61.9m). This development was mainly driven by improved demand for Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems for VCSEL (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser), Red-Orange-Yellow (ROY) und specialty LEDs as well as power electronics and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) systems for the production of flash memory applications.

As of June 30, 2017, equipment order backlog totaled EUR 93.4m, a 7% increase on the figure of EUR 87.6m as of March 31, 2017 (June 30, 2016: EUR 86.2m). The majority of the backlog is due for shipment in 2017.

Total revenues for H1/2017 increased to EUR 114.1m (H1/2016: EUR 55.5m) year-on-year while also improving sequentially in a quarterly comparison (Q2/2017: EUR 60.6m; Q1/2017: EUR 53.6m).

Free cash flow of EUR 40.3m in H1/2017 was up EUR 81.3m on the previous year (H1/2016: EUR -41.0m). It also includes positive figures in two consecutive quarters (Q2/2017:
EUR 7.0m; Q1/2017: EUR 33.3m) which was mainly attributable to the collection of receivables as well as advanced payments received from customers.

Cash and cash equivalents (including cash deposits with a maturity of more than 90 days) increased to EUR 197.1m as of June 30, 2017, as against EUR 193.6m as of March 31, 2017.

Key Financials

*Operating CF + investing CF + changes in cash deposits, adjusted for acquisition effects

Business Development

As explained, revenues and orders received in H1/2017 were driven up by the improved demand for MOCVD systems to produce VCSEL, ROY and specialty LEDs as well as power electronics and CVD systems for the production of flash memory applications.

Following the freezing of product development activities for III-V materials for next-generation logic chips (TFOS) in Q1/2017 which resulted in a one-time write down of EUR 6.6m, EBIT in Q2/2017 was influenced by write downs of EUR 6.4m on the freeze of thin-film encapsulation (TFE) activities.

During H1/2017, AIXTRON continued to transform the company to align R&D expenses with revenues in order to return to profitability in 2018. In this context, the sale of the U.S.-based ALD/CVD production line to Eugene Technologies, Inc. was announced in Q2/2017. Furthermore, the establishment of a Joint Venture for the AIXTRON OLED deposition technology is ongoing and progressing. To support this, APEVA SE, a 100% subsidiary of AIXTRON SE, was founded.

Cost of sales for H1/2017 increased to EUR 85.8m year-on-year, equivalent to 75% of revenues (H1/2016: EUR 45.5m, or 82% of revenues). This was a reflection of the corresponding revenue levels in the first half 2017 as well as a write down of EUR 1.3m related to the TFE activities in Q2/2017 and a write down of EUR 1.0m related to the TFOS activities during Q1/2017.

Adjusted by restructuring costs of EUR 2.3m, gross profit and gross margin in H1/2017 improved to EUR 30.6m and 27% respectively against the previous year (H1/2016:
EUR 10.0m; 18% gross margin) while the adjusted gross profit also improved on a quarterly comparison (Q2/2017: EUR 16.0m, 26% gross margin; Q1/2017: EUR 14.7m, 27% gross margin) mainly due to above mentioned reasons.

Operating expenses in H1/2017 were EUR 40.2m (H1/2016: EUR 35.9m) excluding restructuring costs including write downs of EUR 10.7m related to AIXTRONs TFOS and TFE activities, amounted to EUR 12.2m. Sequentially, operating expenses adjusted by restructuring costs fell slightly to EUR 19.6m in Q2/2017 (Q1/2017: EUR 20.6m).

The aforementioned reasons led to an adjusted EBITDA of EUR -4.0m in H1/2017, an improvement by 80% year-on-year (H1/2016: EUR -20.0m). On a quarterly comparison the adjusted EBITDA was EUR -1.3m in Q2/2017 (Q1/2017: EUR -2.7m).

The H1/2017 EBIT adjusted by restructuring costs of EUR 14.5m was EUR -9.6m. Compared to the previous year, EBIT was better by 63% mainly due to the above mentioned effects (H1/2016: EUR -25.9m). In Q2/2017, EBIT adjusted by restructuring costs of EUR 7.7m in total improved to EUR -3.6m (Q1/2017: EUR -5.9m, adjusted by EUR 6.8m).

Excluding restructuring costs, the net result improved year-on-year from EUR -26.6m in H1/2016 to EUR -10.4m in H1/2017.

Management Review

Kim Schindelhauer, CEO of AIXTRON SE, comments: "In H1/2017, the positive development in order intake has continued and will result in improved revenues. Therefore, we have decided to raise our 2017 full year guidance for order intake and revenues.

In addition, we have stepped forward in focusing on our core business in the first half of 2017

- with the sale of our ALD/CVD business to Eugene Technologies,

- by freezing our TFOS and TFE activities,

- by founding our 100% subsidiary company APEVA SE in order to spin-off our OLED activities.

We are also pleased that Dr. Felix Grawert will join us as member of the Executive Board by August 14, 2017 which means that we have successfully completed the majority of tasks concerning the realignment of AIXTRON in H1/2017. Considering all these facts, AIXTRON is on track to return to profitability in 2018."

Guidance

Based on the assessment on AIXTRON's order intake, Management now expects for fiscal year 2017 to achieve revenues and an order intake between EUR 210 million and 230 million.

AIXTRON continues to transform the Company to align R&D expenses with revenues in order to return to profitability in 2018. As the execution of this strategy might have a substantial influence on profit, Management is not guiding on EBITDA, EBIT and net result for fiscal year 2017. Management will provide an update on the 2017 earnings outlook as the above-mentioned plans and measures materialize.

Management expects to achieve a positive free cash flow in 2017 and a positive EBIT for 2018.

Financial Tables

The H1/2017 results presentation is available at http://www.aixtron.com/en/investors/ir-presentation. The consolidated financial statements (income statement, statement of comprehensive income, balance sheet, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity) relating to this press release are available at http://www.aixtron.com/en/investors/financial-reports/ as part of AIXTRON's First Half 2017 Financial Report.

Investor Conference Call

AIXTRON will host a financial analyst and investor conference call on Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 3.00 a.m. CEST (6.00 p.m. PDT, 9.00 a.m. EDT) to review the first half 2017 results. You can dial into the call at +49 (69) 247501-899 or +1 (212) 444-0297 from 2.45 a.m. CEST (5.45 p.m. PDT, 8.45 a.m. EDT). An audio replay or transcript will be available after the conference call at http://www.aixtron.com/en/investors/events/conference-call/.

Contact:

Guido Pickert
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
T: +49 (2407) 9030-444
F: +49 (2407) 9030-445

Andrea Su
Investor Relations US
T: +1 (408) 747-7140 Ext. 1292
invest@aixtron.com

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

Our registered trademarks: AIXACT^(R), AIXTRON^(R), Atomic Level SolutionS^(R), Close Coupled Showerhead^(R), CRIUS^(R), Gas Foil Rotation^(R), Optacap(TM), OVPD^(R), Planetary Reactor^(R), PVPD^TM, TriJet^(R)

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this document may not add up precisely to the totals indicated and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures for the same reason.

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.