DGAP-News: SUSS MicroTec SE: Half-year figures published for period from 1 January until 30 June 2020

• Company raises sales and earnings forecast for the year 2020 (communicated on July 24, 2020
• Order entry in first half year rose to €162.6 million (2019: €91.7 million)
• Sales increased significantly by 20% to €113.3 million (2019: €94.1 million)
• EBIT rose significantly from -€0.8 million in the previous year to €3.2 million

Garching, August 6, 2020 -SUSS MicroTec SE, a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, published its results for the first six months of the 2020 fiscal year.
In an environment characterized by economic uncertainties and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, SUSS MicroTec had a very positive first half-year overall after a sluggish development in sales in the first quarter. Increased demand led to sales of €113.3 million in the first six months. This represents an increase of 20% over the previous year's figure of €94.1 million. Incoming orders rose by 77% to €162.2 million (previous year €91.7 million). The order backlog as of 30 June 2020 amounted to €143.1 million (30 June 2019: €85.4 million).

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to €3.2 million and were thus significantly higher than the previous year's figure of -€0.8 million. This results in an EBIT margin for the first half of 2020 of
2.8% (previous year -0.9%). Earnings after tax (EAT) improved compared with the previous year to €0.4 million (previous year: minus €1.9 million). Undiluted earnings per share (EPS) amounted to €0.02 (previous year: -€0.10). Closure costs for the US production site in Corona totalled €4.5 million in the first half of the year. These costs are included in the result.

Free cash flow improved significantly to €17.2 million at the end of the first half of 2020, compared with
-€18.9 million in the previous year. As a result, net liquidity as of 30 June 2020 has improved compared to 31 December 2019 by around €15.7 million to €5.1 million.

The semiconductor market has proven so far to be comparatively robust against the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. SUSS MicroTec was able to benefit from increased investment in the introduction of the 5G mobile technology, among other things, and generated an excellent order entry of €93.6 million in the second quarter (previous year: €45.0 million). All segments contributed to this positive development. Revenues in the second quarter rose by €24.6 million year-on-year to €71.6 million. At €8.8 million (previous year: -€2.9 million), EBIT shows a positive margin of 12.3%. The Photomask Equipment segment, which is currently experiencing strong demand for cleaning equipment for EUVL applications, is the main contributor to this.

Outlook

Following the very strong order intake in the second quarter, which was characterized by some customer orders being brought forward, we expect a certain normalization in order intake for the rest of the year. We anticipate that total order intake in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 will exceed €90 million. The global measures to contain the COVID 19 pandemic are hindering our ability to make estimates for the current year. Provided that the course of the pandemic and its consequences do not have a negative impact on our company, we expect business to continue to develop positively in the second half of 2020 and therefore confirm the increased sales and earnings forecast we communicated on July 24, 2020. We expect sales in the range of €240 million to €260 million. The EBIT margin should also improve slightly to a range between 3% and 5%.

Legal Disclaimer
All statements in this release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "may", "will", "plan" and similar words and terms used in relation to the enterprise are meant to indicate forward-looking statements of this kind. The company accepts no obligation toward the general public to update or correct forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, as a result of which actual events may diverge numerically from expectations. The forward-looking statements reflect the view at the time they were made.


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