The Hönle Group's sales in the first nine months of the 2019/2020 financial year were EUR 71,734 thousand, 11.7% below the previous year's figure. The operating result (EBIT) fell from TEur 13,256 to TEur 6,287. In the third quarter in particular, the corona pandemic led to significantly lower sales and earnings contributions. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on business development in all segments of the Hönle Group. In addition, special effects (merger of Aladin GmbH with UV-Technik Speziallampen GmbH) had an impact on the result of the Glass & Lamps segment.
Earnings before taxes (EBT) fell from TEur 13,084 to TEur 6,069 in the nine-month period. After income taxes, the consolidated result was EUR 4,739 thousand compared to EUR 9,236 thousand in the previous year, which corresponds to earnings per share of EUR 0.87 (previous year: EUR 1.69). The net return on sales thus fell from 11.4% to 6.6%.
outlook
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hönle AG withdrew its outlook for the 2019/2020 financial year in April 2020. The pandemic is expected to have an impact on the business development of the Hönle Group until the end of the 2019/2020 financial year.
Hönle took advantage of the crisis and created the basis in all segments for further growth after the pandemic had subsided and the general economic conditions improved. In addition, the Hönle Group plans to expand its market position in the short to medium term through acquisitions.
Adhesives segment
The customer base in the adhesives segment was expanded significantly, so that today all major smartphone manufacturers are among Hönle's customers. The dependency on major customers has thus been reduced.
Since both the number and the volume of customer projects have increased significantly and some projects are at an advanced stage, the Management Board sees good conditions for implementing strong medium to long-term business development in the adhesives segment. In this context, the number of staff in the areas of sales and development for industrial adhesives was expanded.
Devices & Systems segment
In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Hönle expanded its product range to include powerful UVC air and surface disinfection systems. As a result of the pandemic, the sensitivity for and the global demand for disinfection solutions have increased dramatically. The Management Board sees very good growth prospects for the Hönle Group as one of the largest UV providers in this interesting life science market.
Hönle has also added new technologies to its product range in surface disinfection, for example for the food industry. In addition, the Hönle Group expanded its business relationships with existing customers from the printing industry and expanded its product range in the printing sector in order to develop sales potential outside of UV drying. In the medium to long term, it is therefore assumed that business in the Devices & Systems segment will develop well.
Glass & spotlights segment
In the Glass & Lamps segment, Aladin GmbH relocated to the premises of UV-Technik Speziallampen GmbH. The newly created lamp competence center in Ilmenau bundles the areas of low and medium pressure lamps and enables more efficient work processes. For the planned growth in ballast water disinfection and UVC disinfection systems for COVID-19, production capacities have also been increased significantly. Increasing sales of lamps and components for disinfection systems will contribute to good business development at UV-Technik Speziallampen GmbH from the next financial year.
It is expected that the quartz glass market will also pick up in the next financial year. In addition, better purchasing conditions at Raesch Quarz (Germany) GmbH will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of materials quota. The planned expansion of sales capacities in connection with high-quality quartz glass products for the semiconductor, glass fiber and lamp industries is expected to lead to good business development for Raesch Quarz (Germany) GmbH.
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