Successful financial year for Phoenix Mecano

The Phoenix Mecano Group ended financial year 2023 more focused and more profitable. The company grew organically, improved its profitability and return on capital, and eliminated net indebtedness. In the first quarter of 2024, the DewertOkin Technology Group division confirmed its turnaround with renewed growth, while caution among industrial customers impacted the Industrial Components and Enclosure Systems divisions.

Kloten/Stein am Rhein, 23 April 2024. The Phoenix Mecano Group's consolidated gross sales fell from EUR 792.9 million to EUR 783.1 million in financial year 2023 due to the divestment of the Rugged Computing business area. In organic, local-currency terms, sales rose by 5.8%.

Operating result

The Group increased its operating cash flow by 9.5% to EUR 85.3 million, compared with EUR 78.0 million the previous year. The operating result rose by 15.8% from EUR 53.6 million to EUR 62.1 million. This resulted in an operating margin of 7.9%, up from 6.8% the previous year. Excluding special items, the operating result climbed by 10.1% to EUR 59.0 million.

Result of the period

The result of the period increased by 16.5% to EUR 45.5 million (previous year: EUR 39.0 million), while the net margin rose from 4.9% to 5.8%.

Equity ratio and net indebtedness

Thanks to the positive trend in earnings, the equity ratio was 47.3% (previous year: 44.5%), significantly above the target minimum equity ratio of 40%. Net liquidity at the end of 2023 was EUR 3.3 million (previous year: net indebtedness of EUR 84.0 million).

Cash flow from operating activities rose from EUR 55.9 million to EUR 90.0 million. The return on capital employed (ROCE) climbed 6.3 percentage points to 21.9%, exceeding the strategic medium-term target of at least 15%.

Division results

With gross sales of EUR 330.4 million, the DewertOkin Technology Group division recorded a 6.5% increase in sales (12.6% in local currencies). The most important furniture retail market, the United States, picked up over the course of 2023, although it has not yet returned to pre-Covid levels. The division achieved an operating profit of EUR 7.2 million (EUR 11.6 million before special items), compared with an operating loss of EUR 2.6 million the previous year.

A performance enhancement programme was implemented to accelerate the turnaround and sustainably improve cost structures. This resulted in one-off expenses of EUR 4.4 million in the 2023 financial year. These exceptional expenses will be offset by expected annual cost savings of around EUR 2.5 million.

Gross sales in the Industrial Components division declined by 12.8% from EUR 255.8 million to EUR 223.1 million due to divestments.  In organic, local-currency terms, growth of 0.8% was achieved in a deteriorating economic environment. The division maintained its operating profit at EUR 24.1 million, compared with EUR 24.4 million the previous year.

The 2023 result includes net exceptional income of EUR 7.5 million from book gains and losses from the sale of Hartmann Electronic GmbH (DE), Wiener Power Electronics GmbH (DE), Wiener Power Electronics Corp. (US) and the business operations of Orion Technologies LLC (US). Before these special items, the operating result was down 31.7% at EUR 16.6 million.

The Enclosure Systems division increased its gross sales by 1.3% to EUR 229.7 million. In organic, local-currency terms, sales grew by 2.0%. Due to inflation-related global cost increases, the operating result fell slightly by 2.5% to EUR 34.3 million. The operating margin was 14.9% (previous year: 15.5%).

First quarter of 2024

Due to weak industrial activity and the sale of the Rugged Computing business area, the Industrial Components and Enclosure Systems divisions recorded lower sales in the first quarter of 2024. By contrast, the DewertOkin Technology Group division confirmed its recovery with a further growth in sales.

The Phoenix Mecano Group's gross sales fell by 8.3% to EUR 191.5 million in Q1 2024 (down 3.8% in organic, local-currency terms).

Incoming orders declined by 5.4% from EUR 209.9 million to EUR 198.6 million. In organic, local-currency terms, they were down by 1.2%. The book-to-bill ratio in Q1 2024 was 103.7% (previous year: 100.5%).

The operating result dropped by 20.8% to EUR 12.4 million. This was mainly due to lower capacity utilisation in the two industrial divisions, which could not be fully offset despite capacity adjustments. The operating margin fell to 6.5% (previous year: 7.5%). The result of the period was EUR 8.2 million, down 21.8% on the previous year (EUR 10.5 million).

Gross sales in the DewertOkin Technology Group (DOT Group) division totalled EUR 84.1 million, an increase of 6.0% year-on-year. Organic, local-currency sales were up by 11.0%. The operating result was EUR 2.4 million, up from EUR 0.2 million the previous year, while the operating margin stood at 2.9%.

In the Asian markets, export business – an important part of the division's activity – gathered momentum. Conversely, local demand in China was sluggish owing to the property crisis and a weak economy, while demand in Europe was also lower than the previous year.

Gross sales in the Industrial Components division fell by 27.8% to EUR 46.9 million (down 20.9% in organic, local-currency terms), due, among other things, to the sale of the Rugged Computing business area. The division's operating result was down 40.8% at EUR 3.4 million (previous year: EUR 5.8 million) while the operating margin was 7.3%.

Customers in the Automation Modules and Electrotechnical Components business areas were reluctant to place orders, and orders on hand continued to edge towards the long-term average. By contrast, the Measuring Systems business area benefited from sustained high demand from the energy infrastructure sector for measuring systems for high-voltage direct current transmission and equipment for smart grids.

In the Enclosure Systems division, gross sales in Q1 2024 fell by 11.0% (10.9% in organic, local-currency terms) to EUR 57.5 million. The operating result declined from EUR 10.6 million to EUR 8.1 million while the operating margin stood at 14.1%.

The Enclosure Systems division was unable to escape the effects of weak industrial activity, particularly in its main market of Germany. This development was partially offset by very dynamic order intake for explosion-proof enclosure and industrial PC applications.

Sustainability

By 2030, Phoenix Mecano aims to halve CO2 emissions from its own operations, per unit of sales, compared with 2021. While most of the Group's locations were able to significantly reduce their emissions in the reporting year, two of the largest production sites recorded massively higher CO2 emissions. This was attributable, in part, to higher capacity utilisation. Also, since the commissioning of the new industrial park in Jiaxing, production processes previously outsourced to suppliers are now carried out in-house. As a result, energy consumption – and therefore greenhouse gas emissions – at these locations increased disproportionately compared with the previous year. Nevertheless, the Phoenix Mecano Group was able to reduce its CO2 emissions by 7% in absolute terms and by 5% in relation to sales, compared with the previous year.

Proposals to the Shareholders' General Meeting

The Board of Directors will propose to the Shareholders' General Meeting of 24 May 2024 that a dividend of CHF 18.00 per share be paid out (previous year: CHF 16.50).

Furthermore, in view of the very good liquidity and solid balance sheet, the Board of Directors proposes to pay a special dividend of CHF 12.00, thereby returning funds that are not immediately required to shareholders.

The share buy-back programme launched in November 2023 will continue unchanged, within the scope permitted by SIX Swiss Exchange.

Outlook

Phoenix Mecano has entered 2024 in a context of declining demand for industrial products in Europe, particularly Germany. Comfortable levels of orders on hand are helping to partially offset these challenges. In addition, megatrends such as industrial automation, decarbonisation and demographic change are bolstering structural demand for Phoenix Mecano's products and system solutions.

Overall, the first quarter was rather sluggish, although the first signs of an economic recovery are now on the horizon. It is difficult to interpret these signs clearly in the current low-visibility environment. Despite numerous uncertainties, the Phoenix Mecano Group's planning is based on the assumption that the economic recovery will continue over the course of the year. The ongoing recovery of the largest division, DewertOkin Technology Group, is particularly encouraging.  

Thanks to consistent implementation of its strategy, the Phoenix Mecano Group sharpened the focus of its business activities and further improved its profitability last year. This stands it in good stead to be able to perform well, even in challenging periods such as the present.

As further economic developments are not yet clearly foreseeable at this point, the Board of Directors and management are provisionally assuming an operating result roughly on a par with the previous year. This assessment will be refined at the time of publication of the half-yearly results.

Link to the 2023 annual report:
https://www.phoenix-mecano.com/en/annual-reports/

Link to the presentation on financial year 2023 and Q1 2024:
https://www.phoenix-mecano.com/en/investor-relations/presentations