• Incoming orders: € 128.3 million (previous year: € 122.7 million, +5 %)
• Sales: € 129.2 million (previous year: € 123.2 million, +5 %)
• EBITDA: € 28.2 million (previous year: € 23.1 million, +22 %)
• Pre-tax result: € 18.1 million (previous year: € 13.1 million, +38 %)
• Pre-tax return rate: 14.0 % (previous year: 10.6 %)
• Period surplus: € 13.7 million (previous year: € 9.3 million, +47 %)
• Free cash flow: € 7.1 million (previous year: € -14.6 million)

BASLER AG, the leading global manufacturer of industrial cameras, is presenting today final figures for the first nine months of 2020.

The Basler group closed the first nine months with very positive results and thus laid a solid foundation for achieving the sales and profitability forecast for the full financial year 2020.

Compared to the same period of 2019, sales increased by 5 % to € 129.2 million (previous year: € 123.2 million). Incoming orders also increased by 5 % to € 128.3 million (previous year: € 122.7 million). The strong growth of the first quarter weakened in the course of the second and third quarter.

Even during the turbulent corona times, Basler developed better than the industry which reported a significant decrease in the first nine months. At the end of September 2020, the VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, German Engineering Federation) reported a decline in sales amounting to 7 % for the accrued financial year 2020 for the German manufacturers of image processing components. According to VDMA, incoming orders of the industry even decreased by 10 % in the same period of time.

Compared to the previous year, the pre-tax result increased by € 5.0 million to € 18.1 million (previous year: € 13.1 million). Thus, the pre-tax return rate amounted to 14 % in the first nine months.

The free cash flow as sum of the cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from financing activities amounted to € 7.1 million (previous year: € -14.6 million).

The management assumes the incoming orders to seasonally increase towards the end of the year. However, the Basler group expects relatively weak sales and results for the fourth quarter. Additionally, in view of the increasing number of infections, risks in the sales and procurement markets will increase again.

These developments have already been anticipated in the business planning. Thus, the Basler management solidifies its forecast at the upper end as follows: group’s sales € 165 million at a pre-tax return rate of 10 %.

Even if the current macroeconomic conditions have strong dampening effects, in principle, management is proud of what has been achieved and, in principle, positive about the future. Main growth drivers like automation, image processing in new application sectors outside the factory as well as the networking of intelligent machines and products (Industry 4.0 and / or IOT) continue to be intact, or rather in the medium-term will even be accelerated due to the corona crisis. Thus, the company still aims to reach a sales level of approximately € 250 million in its medium-term planning.