• At € 117.6 million, new record order intake in the first quarter of 2022
• Revenue and EBIT grow despite supply chain challenges
• First order for hybrid bonding solution and orders from new scanner customers

Garching, May 12, 2022 - SUSS MicroTec SE, a leading manufacturer of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and related markets, has published its Q1 2022 report today.

In the first quarter of 2022, the company has received orders worth € 117.6 million, the highest-ever order entry in one quarter, which corresponds to an increase of 45.2% (Q1 2021: € 81.0 million). The Bonder and Photomask Equipment segments have accounted for a high share of this growth. The Lithography segment, which often generates high order entry, has almost equaled the record figure of the prior year quarter.

"We are particularly glad that we have received the first order for our new wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding solution in the past quarter. Our customer will use this system for volume production of micro-LED displays," said CEO Goetz M. Bendele, while adding, "orders from two new semiconductor industry customers for our UV projection scanners are also worth mentioning. This is a first indicator that the broader sales approach for these systems which we initiated last year is already showing initial success." In the photomask equipment segment, major orders from several customers have also contributed to the high order intake of € 40.9 million in this segment alone, which already corresponds to around 80% of this segment's revenue for the year 2021.

In the first three months of the current financial year, revenue was € 63.3 million, 20.3% higher than the prior year figure of € 52.6 million. The largest revenue growth contributions from the prior year’s quarter came from the Bonder and Micro-Optics segments. The company has achieved this higher overall revenue in spite of a number of delays in the delivery of equipment due to the ongoing poor availability of material, especially in the Photomask Equipment segment.

EBIT for the first three months has increased by € 0.7 million year-on-year to € 2.1 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin for the first three months of 3.3% (prior year: 2.7%). Earnings after tax (EAT) have also increased in the first three months to € 1.4 million (prior year: € 0.8 million). At € 1.6 million, free cash flow in the first quarter was significantly down from the prior year figure of € 9.1 million, following a further increase in working capital in the first quarter, in particular an increase in inventory of € 15.1 million. The net cash position has decreased from € 39.2 million as of March 31, 2021 to € 35.2 million as of March 31, 2022. With the high order intake, the order backlog also increased further to € 249.2 million as of March 31, 2022.

Outlook

With another very strong order entry in the first quarter of 2022, which in turn has led to a further increase in the order backlog as of March 31, 2022, we are in a very good position to continue our intended growth trajectory.

However, significant supply chain shortages still exist because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and these are not likely to be resolved soon. These supply bottlenecks have already slowed our sales growth in the first quarter of 2022, and will lead to a postponement of delivery dates and, with that, delay of revenue recognition in subsequent quarters. There is additional uncertainty and indirect effects from the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In spite of this difficult environment, we continue to expect revenue between € 270 million and € 300 million and an EBIT margin between 8.5% and 10.5% for 2022. As in the previous year, we expect revenue in the second half of the year to be significantly higher than in the first half.

About SUSS MicroTec
SUSS MicroTec is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for microstructuring in the semiconductor industry and related markets. In close cooperation with research institutes and industry partners SUSS MicroTec contributes to the advancement of next-generation technologies such as 3D Integration and nanoimprint lithography as well as key processes for MEMS and LED manufacturing. With a global infrastructure for applications and service SUSS MicroTec supports more than 8.000 installed systems worldwide. SUSS MicroTec is headquartered in Garching near Munich, Germany. The shares of SUSS MicroTec SE are traded in the Prime Standard of the German Stock Exchange (ISIN DE000A10K0235). For more information, please visit http://www.suss.com.

Legal Disclaimer
All statements in this release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "estimate", "should", "may", "will", "plan" and similar words and terms used in relation to the enterprise are meant to indicate forward-looking statements of this kind. The company accepts no obligation toward the general public to update or correct forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, as a result of which actual events may diverge numerically from expectations. The forward-looking statements reflect the view at the time they were made.