Industry News
ZEISS Reports Successful First Half Year
The positive trend continues at the ZEISS Group, which had a positive end to the first six months of fiscal year 2021/22 (ended 31 March 2022) that was significantly higher than the very good result seen in the previous year: revenue increased by 20% to 4.1 billion euros (prior year: 3.4 billion euros). At 736 million euros, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were also significantly higher than the prior-year period (prior year: 591 million euros). The EBIT margin is 18%. The high level of incoming orders also continued in the first half of the new fiscal year. Incoming orders increased to 5.49 billion euros (prior year: 4.20 billion euros).
"We have had a good start to the fiscal year with revenue in the first half of the year once again exceeding the very good level from last year. All four ZEISS segments have contributed to this considerable growth dynamic despite challenging conditions," said Dr. Karl Lamprecht, President & CEO of ZEISS. "We have a global setup, a broad portfolio and have even increased our expenditure on research and development. We are reaping the benefits of this at the moment and this is reflected in our half-year figures, our growth and our capacity for innovation."
The geopolitical and overall economic conditions, in particular the war in Ukraine, as well as the effects of the corona pandemic – currently in China – and the resulting disruptions to supply chains have strongly impacted the individual strategic business units to differing degrees.
ZEISS intends to continue its growth trajectory by making further large investments in digitalization and increasing capacities, in particular at Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. In conjunction with the consistently high expenditure on research and development, the ZEISS innovation strategy is a cornerstone of the company's expedited growth.
"The positive development of all our financial KPIs confirms we had a good start to fiscal year 2021/22. This is also evident in the considerable expenditure on research and development, which totaled over half a billion euros in these six months alone," said Dr. Christian Müller, CFO of Carl Zeiss AG. "What's more, we are also planning on continuing the ZEISS Group's growth trajectory with substantial investments in digitalization, and on moving forward with increasing our capacities. This includes the targeted expansion of infrastructure and recruiting more staff. In 2022 alone, 500 new employees have already been hired at the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology segment at our site in Oberkochen, Germany, and more will follow."
"Future business development depends primarily on the challenges presented by the geopolitical situation and potential disruptions to the supply chains – and, judging from what we can see in China, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet in the wider world. Nevertheless, we currently assume that growth will also continue in all four ZEISS segments in the second half of the fiscal year," said Lamprecht. "It is crucial that we remain close to our customers, provide them with optimum support in the face of these new challenges, and that we – and this is typical for ZEISS – continue to heavily invest in the future."
