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Investing.com -- Shares of Jenoptik (ETR:JEN) dropped by 2.8% despite the company reporting fourth-quarter sales that slightly exceeded consensus estimates.
The German photonics company announced Q4 sales of approximately €305 million, marking a 3% increase year-over-year (YoY) and surpassing the consensus estimate of €302 million by 1%. This growth was primarily attributed to the strong performance of its Advanced Photonic Solutions division, particularly in the semiconductor equipment sector.
The company’s fourth-quarter EBITDA also saw a 6% YoY increase to about €61.4 million, with a margin of roughly 20.2%, up from 19.5% in the same quarter the previous year. The EBITDA figure beat the consensus by 6%, which had been projected at €60 million.
Despite the positive results, shares fell, potentially due to concerns over the company’s order intake and future outlook. Jenoptik’s full-year 2024 order intake was approximately €1.03 billion, a 6% decrease YoY, falling short of the consensus estimate of €1.05 billion.
The decline was mainly driven by weak demand from the automotive sector, leading to a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92, down from 1.02 the previous year. Consequently, the order backlog decreased to about €670 million from €745 million in 2023.
Jenoptik remains optimistic about the future, expecting an upturn in demand for its semiconductor business in the second half of 2025. The company plans to provide a detailed quantitative outlook for 2025 when it releases the final audited results for 2024 on March 25, 2025. The guidance for 2026 remains unchanged, with projected sales of around €1.2 billion and an EBITDA margin of 21-22%.
Financially, Jenoptik’s balance sheet appears robust. The equity ratio for the fiscal year 2024 improved to approximately 56%, up from 54.2% in the previous year. Free cash flow (FCF) before interest and taxes was about €103 million, lower than the €127 million reported in 2023, which the company attributes to significant investments, including a new factory in Dresden. Leverage improved, decreasing to roughly 1.8 times from 2.0 times at the end of the prior year.
Analysts from Jefferies commented on the results, describing them as "good."
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