• 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 %)
• EBT Euro 28.3 million (2021: Euro 28.0 million, +1 %)
• EAT Euro 21.4 million (2021: Euro 20.8 million, +3 %)
• Free cash flow Euro -31.8 million (2021: Euro 10.0 million)

BASLER AG, a leading manufacturer of image processing components for computer vision applications, is releasing preliminary figures for fiscal year 2022 today.

In a very dynamic market environment, the Basler group reached a new sales record with a sales growth of 27 % to Euro 272.2 million (previous year: Euro 214.7 million), despite considerable bottlenecks for semiconductor components particularly in the first half of the year. However, demand flattened out in the course of the fiscal year and Basler group’s incoming orders decreased by 23 % to Euro 248.4 million (previous year: Euro 322.5 million) compared to the extremely strong previous year. Due to the strong future-oriented expansion of the organization and temporarily decreasing gross margins because of spot buys from brokers, the pre-tax result moved sideways on a level of Euro 28.3 million (previous year: Euro 28.0 million). The pre-tax return rate amounted to 10.4 % (previous year: 13.0 %). With these results, Basler achieves the forecast that was increased once during the course of the fiscal year according to which sales will be between Euro 262 and 270 million at a pre-tax return rate of 10 to 12 %.

The free cash flow calculated as sum of the cash flows from operations and cash flow for investments reached a value of Euro -31.8 million (previous year: Euro 10.0 million). This was extraordinarily burdened by high material inventories due to supply shortages of critical parts, rising receivables and finished goods inventories, and in addition by purchase price payments for M&A transactions.

Due to a cooling demand in the course of the fiscal year and, at the same time, rising sales because of a better availability of semiconductor components, the order backlog decreased to Euro 102.5 million (previous year: Euro 140.9 million). The order backlog is still on an increased level and allows for a solid start into fiscal year 2023. However, the continuously weak level of incoming orders in the first weeks of the year make the management cautious about the course of the year. Additionally, the outlook for the Asian markets is currently clouded due to Chinese New Year. The forecast for 2023 and further background information on the 2022 results will be published together with the final figures and the annual report 2022 on March 30, 2023.

These provisional figures are awaiting final approval by the auditors and the supervisory board.