X-Fab presenterar resultat för första kvartalet 2022

Highlights Q1 2022:

• Revenue was USD 178.7 million, within the guidance of USD 175-185 million, up 15% year-on-year (YoY) and up 4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ)
• Continued strong demand with bookings at USD 239.3 million resulting in a book-to-bill ratio of 1.34 
• EBITDA margin of 23.0%, at the upper end of the 19-23% guidance
• EBITDA was USD 41.0 million, up 15% YoY and up 21% QoQ
• EBIT was USD 22.2 million, up 31% YoY and up 57% QoQ
  
  

Outlook:

• Q2 2022 revenue is expected to be in the range of USD 180-190 million with an EBITDA margin in the range of 20-24%. This guidance is based on an average exchange rate of 1.10 USD/Euro.
• Management reiterates its full-year guidance with revenues in the range of USD 750-815 million and an EBITDA margin in the range of 21-25%.
• Based on accelerated market development, X-FAB adjusts the long-term guidance and expects to reach USD 1 billion in annual revenues two years earlier than the originally planned 2026 indicated at the X-FAB Investor Day in May 2021. The corresponding EBITDA margin guidance has been raised to >30% (previously >27%).

Revenue breakdown per quarter:

1. Consumer, Communications & Computer

Business development

In the first quarter of 2022, business continued to develop strongly. X-FAB recorded quarterly revenues of USD 178.7 million, within the guided USD 175-185 million, up 15% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter. Although slightly down compared to the previous quarter, first quarter bookings remained at an exceptionally high level at USD 239.3 million, up 13% year-on-year.

X-FAB is uniquely positioned as it focuses on specialty technologies tailored to serve the automotive, industrial, and medical markets. First quarter revenues in those core markets amounted to USD 144.9 million, up 16% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter. Together they accounted for 81% of the Group’s total revenues.

First quarter highlights include record prototyping revenues in automotive as well as all-time high volume production revenues in Industrial and Medical. Overall, Medical recorded the strongest revenue growth, up 59% year-on-year, while Automotive and Industrial rose 7% and 28% year-on-year respectively.

First quarter CCC (Consumer, Communication & Computer) revenues came in at USD 32.5 million, up 6% year-on-year.

The pipeline for new projects is solid reflecting continued strong prototyping revenues in the first quarter, which amounted to USD 24.6 million, up 30% growth year-on-year.

The accelerating transition to green energy and mobility is driving the demand for X-FAB’s silicon carbide (SiC) technology and other supporting applications, spurring growth in Industrial and Automotive. First quarter SiC revenues almost doubled compared to the same quarter last year and reached USD 12.1 million.

X-FAB’s medical business continues to grow in line with the increasing importance of digital healthcare covering point-of-care diagnostics, personalized medicine or telemedicine. As in previous quarters, lab-on-a-chip applications continued to be the main growth driver for Medical. They require the combination of CMOS and MEMS technologies, which X-FAB offers jointly, making it a clear differentiator and a key advantage for customers in developing highly complex lab-on-a-chip devices.

First quarter MEMS revenues, which X-FAB generates across all its end markets, amounted to USD 17.9 million, up 24% year-on-year. Lab-on-a-chip applications as well as contactless temperature sensors were the main growth drivers.

In the first quarter, as order intake remained exceptionally strong, capacity allocation had to be continued while every effort was made to supply customers with the quantities required to avoid supply chain disruptions. At the same time, the ramp-up of X-FAB technologies at X-FAB France progressed well and contributed positively to first quarter revenue growth. The share of the French site’s revenues based on X-FAB technologies reached 42% in the first quarter. While demand for X-FAB’s RF SOI technology weakened, X-FAB France’s automotive revenues, in particular in the highly demanded 180nm automotive technology, went up significantly, representing the main share of the overall automotive growth in the first quarter.

Operations update

In the first quarter, X-FAB’s factories continued to run at high load. With continued high demand, increasing productivity and removing production bottlenecks at all sites remained key priorities and a major operational focus throughout the quarter. Multiple new tools ordered in 2021 were delivered this quarter with installation and qualification activities ongoing. Each new tool becoming operational will contribute positively to productivity gains.

Labor markets remained tight in all regions and strong focus has been placed on recruiting and employer marketing activities to ensure there are sufficient staff available to handle the high workload in the fabs. The German sites also suffered from an increased absence rate as a result of Covid-19 quarantines.

In light of the current volatility of global supply chains and even more so to support the Group’s future growth, X-FAB is closely monitoring the supply situation, taking appropriate measures to mitigate any supply risks. This includes the qualification of second and third source suppliers as well as geographical diversification. To date, X-FAB has not been impacted by supply bottlenecks.

Demand for X-FAB’s SiC technologies further accelerated with bookings in the first quarter reaching USD 21.4 million, up 149% year-on-year and 26% quarter-on-quarter. Major initiatives include the expansion of capacity for SiC processing as well as SiC epitaxy, while X-FAB also made progress in streamlining the onboarding process for new customers. The development of standard SiC process blocks is helping to speed up technology releases and reduces time-to-market. Customer interest remains high and the pipeline for new projects remains strong.  

Capital expenditures increased significantly to USD 48.8 million during the first quarter, reflecting equipment orders from 2021 which were delivered during Q1 2022. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to come in at approx. USD 200 million. X-FAB is expanding its capacities across all sites in response to accelerated demand as well as expected long-term growth.

Financial update      

First quarter EBITDA was USD 41.0 million with an EBITDA margin of 23.0%, at the upper end of the guided 19-23%. Top line growth contributed positively to profitability as did the substantial increase of unfinished and finished goods inventory, which amounted to USD 12.4 million in the first quarter. On the other hand, cost inflation as well as rising depreciations resulting from the Group’s capacity expansion projects put pressure on margins. In order to compensate for this effect, X-FAB is in the process of increasing pricing accordingly.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter amounted to USD 259.3 million, a decrease of 11% compared to the previous quarter end. In the fourth quarter 2021, X-FAB had drawn funds in the amount of USD 77.8 million from its revolving credit line. These were used in the first quarter to cover capex payments for new equipment deliveries. 

Euro-denominated sales share came in at 40% during the first quarter, in line with the level of costs incurred in Euro. The actual US-Dollar/Euro exchange rate for the first quarter of 2022 was 1.12 leading to an EBITDA margin of 23.0%. At a constant exchange rate of 1.21, as experienced in the first quarter 2021, the EBITDA margin would have been 22.8%. This demonstrates that the achieved natural hedging of the business has made X-FAB’s profitability development robust against exchange rate fluctuations.