Jenoptik with good development in the fiscal year 2024

“Jenoptik has successfully completed the 2024 fiscal year, and despite an increasingly challenging market environment, we have achieved the sales and earnings targets set at the beginning of the year. Additionally, the construction of our new high-tech factory in Dresden was progressing as planned and has now been completed. Through the implementation of a leaner organizational structure, we aim to operate more simply and efficiently in the future and to further increase our focus on our core markets. The current fiscal year will still be challenging for Jenoptik given the currently above-average market uncertainties,” comments Stefan Traeger, CEO of JENOPTIK AG.

Robust sales growth – profitability further increased

The photonics group Jenoptik continued its growth trajectory in the past fiscal year. Revenue increased by 4.7 percent to €1,115.8 million (previous year €1,066.0 million). All divisions contributed to this organic growth, especially the Advanced Photonic Solutions division, driven by a significant expansion in sales in the semiconductor equipment sector. The highest increase was achieved in Germany with a plus of 16.9 percent, followed by Europe (excluding Germany) with 5.2 percent. In the Americas region, sales rose slightly by 2.8 percent, while the Asia/Pacific region did not reach the previous year's level. Overall, 71.5 percent of sales were generated abroad (previous year 74.5 percent).

The company's EBITDA increased by 5.7 percent from €209.6 million to €221.5 million. The corresponding margin slightly improved to 19.9 percent (previous year 19.7 percent). EBIT rose significantly by 16.0 percent in the 2024 fiscal year to €146.6 million (previous year €126.3 million). The previous year's figure included impairments totaling €12.7 million. Shareholders' profit was €92.6 million (previous year €72.5 million); the corresponding earnings per share amounted to €1.62 (previous year €1.27).

Order intake below previous year's level – investments in capacity expansion

Order intake in the past fiscal year remained below the previous year's level of €1,092.2 million, at €1,027.7 million, primarily due to weak demand from the automotive sector, representing a decrease of 5.9 percent. The order backlog of the Jenoptik Group at the end of 2024 was €670.1 million (December 31, 2023: €745.0 million).

Investments in the 2024 fiscal year remained high at €114.6 million, mainly due to the expansion of production capacities at the Dresden site (previous year €110.4 million). Investments were made in a state-of-the-art cleanroom factory for micro-optics and sensors for the semiconductor equipment industry. Production in the new factory started as planned in early 2025.

Good level of free cash flow; further improvement in financial and balance sheet quality

Despite high investments, free cash flow before interest and taxes reached a good level of €102.9 million. The previous year's figure of €127.3 million was supported by the sale of real estate. Accordingly, the cash conversion rate decreased from 60.8 percent in the previous year to 46.5 percent. With an equity ratio of 55.6 percent as of December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: 54.2 percent), net debt of €395.5 million (previous year €423.1 million), and a leverage ratio (net debt relative to EBITDA) of 1.8x (previous year 2.0x), Jenoptik continues to have improved financial and balance sheet ratios.

Dividend proposal increased to €0.38 per share

Jenoptik aims to appropriately involve shareholders in the company's operational development while enabling further growth investments. Against this background, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board propose a dividend of €0.38 per share at the Annual General Meeting (previous year €0.35 per share). This would increase the total payout by 8.6 percent to €21.8 million.

Business development of the divisions

The Advanced Photonic Solutions division achieved a sales increase of 5.6 percent in 2024, from €821.2 million to €866.8 million. This was mainly due to a significant expansion in sales in the semiconductor equipment sector. The division's EBITDA margin was around the previous year's level at 21.8 percent (21.9 percent). Order intake remained slightly below the previous year's level at €812.8 million, down 1.7 percent from €826.5 million.

The Smart Mobility Solutions division recorded sales of approximately €119.5 million, about the same as the previous year (€118.8 million). The division saw sales growth in Europe (including Germany) and the Middle East/Africa region. The EBITDA margin was 11.4 percent (previous year 12.9 percent), affected by higher R&D costs and investments in the US sales structure. The division's order intake was subject to the typical fluctuations of project business and amounted to €122.9 million in 2024, compared to €113.6 million in the previous year.

The sales of the Non-Photonic Portfolio Companies amounted to €125.9 million, up 4.0 percent from €121.1 million the previous year. The automation segment experienced significant growth. The EBITDA margin improved to 17.5 percent (previous year 14.1 percent), driven by better results in both automation and measurement technology. Due to the challenging market environment, order intake was significantly below the previous year's level at €88.5 million, compared to €147.1 million.

Outlook 2025 influenced by high economic and political uncertainties

For the 2025 fiscal year, the Executive Board expects that after a weak start in the second half of the year, an upswing will begin, especially in the semiconductor equipment industry. It is also assumed that the political and economic conditions will not deteriorate further. This includes, in particular, macroeconomic trends, regulations at the European level, as well as other macro-political developments in our key markets, such as tariffs, and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Executive Board expects, considering the currently above-average market uncertainties, a sales level for the 2025 fiscal year roughly in line with the previous year (+/- 5 percent) (2024: €1,115.8 million). Regarding EBITDA margin, Jenoptik anticipates a range between 18.0 and 21.0 percent (2024: 19.9 percent). Following the completion of the new cleanroom factory in Dresden, the Executive Board expects investments in 2025 to be significantly below the previous year's level of €114.6 million.

Changes in the portfolio are not included in this forecast.