News Article
Aixtron revenues jump 33% due to buoyant LED market
The ongoing demand for Aixtron systems reflects the continuation of strong demand from LED backlighting manufacturers and early demand from the lighting applications industry.
Aixtron SE, a global provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, has announced the consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2011.
In the first quarter of 2011, Aixtron’s revenues increased by 33% year on year to € 205.4m (Q1/2010: € 154.5), driven by a continuing high level of demand for LED deposition equipment. Sequentially, Q1/2011 revenues decreased slightly compared to Q4/2010, in line with customer delivery requirements (Q4/2010: € 224.7m).
As a result of the positive revenue development, the Company’s gross profit increased by 34% year on year, to € 104.2m in Q1/2011 (Q1/2010: € 77.9m), translating to a gross margin of 51%, 1 percentage point higher than in Q1/2010.
The higher gross margin, coupled with lower operating expenses, lifted Aixtron’s EBIT year on year by 61%, to € 74.9m in Q1/2011, from € 46.4m in Q1/2010. Relative to last year’s Q1 EBIT margin, this was 6 percentage points higher, at 36% (Q1/2010: 30%).
Net profit came in at € 52.3m, or 25% of revenues (Q1/2010: € 31.8m or 31%).
The Q1/2011 equipment order intake increased year on year by 25% to € 210.3m. The ongoing demand for Aixtron systems reflects the continuation of strong demand from LED backlighting manufacturers and, importantly, rising early demand from the lighting applications industry. With 65% of these orders being for Aixtron’s latest generation G5 and CRIUS II equipment, the customer adoption rate (Q4/2010: 55%; Q3/2010: 29%; Q2/2010: 8%) is faster than previous generation system introductions.
Paul Hyland, President & Chief Executive Officer at Aixtron, comments on the Q1/2011 results:
“Whilst the first quarter of 2011 has been a testing time for many in the global community, we are very pleased to still be able to report a continuation of the high level of demand for our systems, and we remain confident of achieving the 2011 guidance we issued in March of € 800-900m revenues and an EBIT margin of 35%.”
“With 54% of revenues and 65% of the orders received in Q1/2011 being for our new-generation systems, the rapid rate of customer adoption is a particularly encouraging indicator that the transition period between G4/CRIUS and G5/CRIUS II is coming to an end, and bodes well for future business development going forward.”
“Moreover, momentum in the development of lighting applications continues to increase, supported by Government and public opinion on energy-saving technologies. Recent events in Japan have only intensified that focus. Aixtron is in an excellent position to deliver against a highly credible and proven roadmap to supply the industry with cost effective production solutions. Those solutions are required to support what will inevitably become the third and biggest LED investment cycle for energy efficient lighting applications in the years ahead.”
Outlook
Aixtron entered the year with a very solid opening order backlog of € 302.3m, which by the end of Q1/2011 has grown to € 321.1m. This represents a solid, reliable foundation for the rest of the year and consequently, Aixtron Management confirms its revenue guidance for 2011 of € 800 million to € 900 million and an operating margin of circa 35%.
Aixtron hosted a financial analyst and investor conference call to review the first quarter 2011 results.
A conference call audio replay or a transcript of the conference call is available at http://www.aixtron.com, section “Investors/Reports/Presentations”.
