MOCVD demand rose, Ace strong revenue in the first half of 932 million yuan

26, the world's leading semiconductor industry equipment supplier Ace strong (AIXTRON) announced the first half of 2018 and the second quarter's performance report.

In the first half of 2018, revenue grew by 3% over the previous year, reaching 117 million 600 thousand euros (about 932 million yuan). The revenue in the second quarter of 2018 fell to 55 million 200 thousand euros (about 437 million yuan) due to agreed shipment arrangements with customers.

Gross profit margin and gross profit margin increased year-on-year in the first half of 2018, reaching 50 million 600 thousand euros (about 400 million yuan) and 43% respectively. Compared with the first quarter, gross profit in the second quarter was reduced to 23 million 800 thousand euros (about 188 million yuan), which was consistent with revenue growth while gross margin remained stable at 43%. This is mainly due to favorable product and regional portfolios, as well as the positive gains of the US dollar against the euro in the second quarter.

Orders, including spare parts and services, increased in the first half of 2018 to 154 million 300 thousand euros (about 1 billion 223 million yuan), an increase of 20% over the previous year. This is mainly due to the rising demand for MOCVD systems for production of ROY LED, especially for MOCVD applications such as vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) or edge emitting lasers (EEL) for 3D sensor technology or optical data transmission.

The backlog of equipment orders increased to 138 million 300 thousand euros (about 1 billion 96 million yuan) as of June 30, 2018, an increase of 48% over the same period last year, an increase of 20% compared with March 31, 2018.

Pre tax profit (EBIT) increased to 12 million euros (about 95 million 80 thousand yuan) in the first half of 2018. Compared with the first quarter, the pre tax profit in the second quarter dropped to 4 million 100 thousand euros (about 32 million 485 thousand yuan).

Net profit increased to 16 million euros (about 127 million yuan) in the first half of 2018 compared with last year, and was positively affected by the devaluation of 5 million euros in the first quarter of 2018.

Ace strong CEO Bernd Schulte commented: "orders for the second quarter of this year continue to increase, so we decided to increase the order income index in 2018 fiscal year. The second quarter's revenue declined slightly due to the shipment arrangements agreed with the customer. The income in the second half of this year will be higher than that in the first half of the year, so we will achieve the income target as planned.

Dr Felix Grawert, member of Ace strong executive committee, added: "we continue to benefit from the global demand stability for MOCVD systems for laser applications, such as VCSEL or EEL, which are particularly needed in 3D sensors or optical data transmission. Our demand for MOCVD systems for producing ROY LED is also very high, because they are indispensable for market penetration of display technologies such as small spacing, Mini and future Micro LED. (Editor: LED net James)

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