Basler reports business figures for 2022: Company confirms strong full-year results, proposes a dividend, and gives a cautious outlook for the year 2023

• Sales Euro 272.2 million (2021: Euro 214.7 million, +27 %)
• Incoming orders Euro 248.4 million (2021: Euro 322.5 million, -23 %)
• EBITDA Euro 45.8 million (2021: Euro 44.5 million, +3 %)
• Earnings before tax Euro 28.3 million (2021: Euro 28.0 million, +1 %)
• Earnings after tax Euro 21.4 million (2021: Euro 20.8 million, +3 %)
• Result per share Euro 0.71 (2021: Euro 0.69, +3 %)
• Free cash flow Euro -31.8 million (2021: Euro 10.0 million)
• Forecast 2023: Sales Euro 235 – 265 million, pre-tax return rate 5 – 8 %

Basler AG, a leading supplier of image processing components for computer vision applications, is today publishing its audited annual report for the financial year 2022. 

In a very dynamic market environment, and despite significant shortages of semiconductor components, particularly in the first half of the year, the Basler Group achieved a new sales record of Euro 272.2 million (previous year: Euro 214.7 million), an increase of 27 %. However, market demand slowed down during the year, particularly in Asia and the Americas, and the Basler Group’s incoming orders decreased by 23 % to Euro 248.4 million (previous year: Euro 322.5 million) compared to the very strong previous year. The earnings before tax increased only slightly to Euro 28.3 million (previous year: Euro 28.0 million) due to the strong future-oriented organizational expansion and the temporary increase in material costs due to the need for broker sourcing during the chip crisis. The pre-tax return was 10.4 % (previous year: 13.0 %). With these results, Basler is in line with its forecast, which was raised once during the year, to sales between Euro 262 and 270 million and an EBT margin of between 10 and 12 %.

The free cash flow as sum of the cash flow from operating activities and the cash flow from investments reached a value of Euro -31.8 million (previous year: Euro 10.0 million). This was impacted by an increase in material inventories due to supply shortages of critical common parts, higher receivables, finished goods inventories and, in particular, exceptional purchase price payments for M&A transactions.

Due to a slowdown in demand during the year and a simultaneous increase in sales as a result of better availability of semiconductor components, the order backlog decreased to Euro 102.5 million (previous year: Euro 140.9 million) as of December 31, 2022. The order backlog was still at a high level at the beginning of the year, providing a solid start to the financial year 2023. However, the continued weak level of incoming orders in Asia and the US makes the management cautious about the rest of the year. The management is familiar with such market cycles from the past and, against this backdrop and the currently weak economic forecasts for 2023, expects a transitional year with continued geopolitical uncertainties. Based on current information, the Basler Group plans to achieve sales of between Euro 235 and 265 million in the financial year 2023. Depending on the level of sales and taking into account rising personnel costs, this would result in a pre-tax return of between 5 % and 8 %.

In order to maintain the Group’s return above 5 % even at the lower end of the sales corridor, the management board and the supervisory board have decided on a savings program at today’s supervisory board meeting. In addition, the company’s liquidity is to be preserved in order to be resilient to geopolitical uncertainties.

This program provides for a restrictive investment behavior and material cost management. With regard to personnel expenses, further increases in headcount will be halted until further notice, and variable compensation for the management board and senior management will be suspended. In addition, a temporary reduction in working hours for some employees at the German sites is planned in order to flexibly manage the Group during the year in line with the order situation. The program will take effect as early as in the second quarter.

Furthermore, the management board and the supervisory board have also decided at their meeting today to propose to this year’s annual general meeting a dividend of Euro 0.14 per share for the fiscal year 2022. This corresponds to approximately Euro 4.2 million or 20 % of the net result for the financial year 2022. In the event of a positive resolution by the annual general meeting, the payout ratio would be one third lower than usual due to the current economic situation and the outlook.

Although the current macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook for the current fiscal year is very gloomy, the company is highly motivated, determined and optimistic to achieve its mid-term target of Euro 400 million in sales with an EBT margin of approximately 12 % in 2025. This will require the markets to pick up again in the second half of the year at the latest and return to their long-term growth path in the following years. The general trend toward greater automation and the increasing use of machine vision outside the factory support this assumption. Despite the current headwinds, the entire team is working with passion and dedication to transform the company into a full range provider with solutions expertise.

The full annual report can be found on the company’s website (www.baslerweb.com).