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– Incoming orders Euro 322.5 million (2020: Euro 181.6 million, +78 %)

– EBITDA Euro 44.5 million (2020: Euro 34.6 million, +29 %)

– EBT Euro 28.0 million (2020: Euro 20.4 million, +37 %)

– EAT Euro 20.8 million (2020: Euro 15.1 million, +38 %)

– Free cash flow Euro 10.0 million (2020: Euro 14.0 million)

BASLER AG, a leading manufacturer of image processing components for computer vision applications, is releasing preliminary figures for fiscal year 2021 today.

In a strong market environment impaired by bottlenecks for semiconductor components in 2021, the Basler group achieved a sales growth of 26 % to Euro 214.7 million (previous year: Euro 170.5 million). Incoming orders increased by 78 % to Euro 322.5 million (previous year: Euro 181.6 million). Thus, the company set new records for sales and incoming orders. Earnings before taxes increased by 37 % to Euro 28.0 million (previous year: Euro 20.4 million). The pre-tax margin reached 13.0 % (previous year: 12.0 %). With these results Basler achieved its forecast communicated to the capital markets in early November despite a cyberattack in the second half of the month. According to this forecast, sales for financial year 2021 would be between Euro 210 million and Euro 220 million at an EBT margin within a corridor between 13 and 15 %.

The free cash flow calculated as sum of the cash flows from operations and cash flow for investments reached a value of Euro 10.0 million (previous year: Euro 14.0 million). This was extraordinarily burdened by high inventories due to isolated missing parts as well as strong sales and an increase in receivables in December.

Basler closes the financial year 2021 with an extremely strong order backlog amounting to Euro 140.9 million. With a book-to-bill ratio of 1.5, the company starts the new financial year with particularly full order books. The challenging procurement of semiconductor components will also in financial year 2022 remain a limiting factor for the growth.

These provisional figures are awaiting final approval by the auditors and the supervisory board. The definitive figures for fiscal year 2021, the annual report for 2021 as well as the forecast for 2022 will be released on March 30, 2022.

Highly motivated and continuously targeting to reach more, the Basler Group recently re-set its medium-term strategic targets. Transferring from a camera supplier to a full-range provider for Computer Vision components and customized solutions it aims for sales amounting to Euro 400 million by the end of 2025. The management continues to steer the company on an average pre-tax return level of approximately 12 %. In case of surpassing this mark, priority is given to the growth in sales at a long-term average growth of at least 15 % per year. Moreover, the management continues to strive for financial independence and thus steers the company with relatively high financial resources as well as a cash conversion rate (FCF/EAT) of approximately 70 %. In addition to a further expansion of the strong market position in factory automation, adjacent market verticals like medical, traffic and logistics are to be penetrated further.