Aumann AG (AAG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day, and a warm welcome to today's Earnings Call of the Aumann AG. Following the publication of the financial figures of Q1 2025. The CEO, Sebastian Roll; and the CFO, Jan-Henrik Pollitt will speak in a moment and guide us through the presentation and the figures. After the presentation, we will move on to a Q&A session in which you will have the possibility to place your questions directly to the management. We're looking forward to the presentation. And having said this, Mr. Roll the stage is yours.

Yes. Good afternoon, everyone. Great to have you with us. Thanks for the kind introduction and also a warm welcome from both of us. Let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Sebastian Roll, and I'm the CEO of Aumann. Joining me today is our CFO, Jan-Henrik Pollitt. So I really appreciate your interest in Aumann this earnings call. Over the next few minutes, we will take you through a brief overview of Aumann market trends, especially in E-mobility and in our segment next automation. And of course, a look at our financial performance in the first quarter of 2025. So let's start as always, with our business model. As you know, we built high-end fully automated production lines tailored to the needs of our global customers. With decades of experienced industry leaders rely on Aumann's solutions to set new production standards. One of our competitive advantage is staying ahead, especially in fast-growing markets, enabling us to quickly provide customized solutions. This is why the automotive market, especially the E-mobility sector remains so attractive for us. The transition to E-mobility and the shift in products continues to drive positive momentum. In addition, the robotics and automation market is growing rapidly, driven by demographic change, labor shortages and cost pressure. We plan to expand our focus on these opportunities going forward. So what we are doing. So let's take a quick look at our solutions. Our portfolio ranges from modular solutions on the left-hand side and complex process solutions to large-scale production solutions. In modular solutions, Aumann offers standardized cell systems. They enable our customers to react fully flexible and cost optimized on market demand. In addition, Aumann develops production lines for complex processes such as winding, coating and testing. The aim is to implement special process steps in the most efficient way. Moreover, Aumann offers customized large-scale production solutions built for maximum output while ensuring high quality. Thanks to Aumann's wide range of solutions, we can fully support different production goals of our customers. This slide shows how Aumann became a technology leader in E-mobility. Starting from the traditional automotive market, E-mobility was identified as a target market. Through strategic M&A, Aumann took the first step into the [ E-motor ]. Building on our know-how, we developed different solutions for the rotor, quickly followed by solutions for the stator and finally, the full E-motor assembly. After the E-motor, we continued our journey using our skills to sell large-scale production solutions for battery modules and battery packs. In addition, we introduced our own modular systems, for example, for inverter assembly, but also very useful in the field of next automation. Furthermore, we entered into a new field converting technology. This enables us to provide production solutions for electrode manufacturing. This illustration shows the result of our journey. The drivetrain of a fully electric car and nearly all components can be manufactured on Aumann production lines. Of course, this requires a colorful mix of competencies alongside our key competencies such as assembly, automation and joining, we also offer specialized processes like converting, winding and testing. Right from the start, Aumann placed a clear focus on the E-Drive unit. Currently, each customer follows very different approaches in the development. As a turnkey provider, Aumann offers all the latest production solutions for both stators and rotors -- in addition to its existing operations, Aumann has ventured into the inverter business over the past 2 years. Now let's shift our focus to our battery portfolio. Our success over the years is also driven by our strong position in the field of battery systems. From our perspective, we benefit for 2 reasons. Firstly, as a pioneer in technology, we cover the full range from battery modules and packs to cell to X solutions. Secondly, new designs like cell to pack set high demand, and we deliver the production technology to match. Let's take a look at the current E-mobility market. So BEV sales continue to gain traction. In the first quarter 2025 alone, more than 2.7 million were sold worldwide. This means a plus of 48% in comparison to the same period last year. China, for sure, stays in the lead with over 1.6 million units, but Europe follows with strong growth, reaching more than 400,000 units and a 24% year-over-year increase. The U.S. market, which currently shows the lowest volume in comparison, is growing by a solid 18%. By 2030, [ BEVs ] are expected to make up 40% of sales by 2035, even 2/3. Nevertheless, the industry has faced a slowdown in 2024 and many investments, as you know, were put on hold. Now the European Union adjusted emission targets, giving our customers more time. Instead of yearly checks, the target period spends over 3 years. This avoids short-term consequences for our customers. Even if U.S. tariffs are still an issue, change is ongoing and much of the old capacity still needs to be adapted. Let us return to the beginning of the presentation. As mentioned, besides the automotive industry, we are shifting our focus on other industries that need to be more efficient in operations, that need a higher productivity and fewer manual steps and errors. At the same time, rising labor costs and the lack of skilled workers are driving companies to automate. In this context, we have moved our Next Automation segment from an opportunistic to a strategic approach. This segment focuses on growth industries beyond automotive, such as Clean Tech, Aerospace and Life Science. So let's take a closer look -- in our segment, Next Automation, we have defined 3 strategic growth areas. Aerospace is picking up speed. Demand is growing in civil aviation and defense budgets are boosting. We are making this as a priority. Drones are a perfect fit for us. Electric motors, battery packs, full system integration, end-of-line testing, everything just like in E-mobility. Same technology, new applications. Besides aerospace, Clean Tech is booming. German government is putting EUR 600 billion into infrastructure and climate. This is driving more investments into renewables, hydrogen and energy grids. Our third pillar is Life Science. An aging population, strong investment and healthy margins make it as a very promising industry. Now I would like to hand over to Jan.

Yes. Thank you, Sebastian, and also a warm welcome from my side. I would now like to share with you the financial figures of the first quarter 2025. Let me start with a quick overview. Based on our guidance for 2025, it is clear that we won't see last year's record high revenue figures. At the same time, we acknowledge that the market environment is still challenging. But looking ahead, we also see signs of growth in E-mobility and promising leads in Next Automation. Under these circumstances, in the first 3 months of 2025, we reached a revenue of EUR 60.5 million, which is slightly below the previous year. Our profitability remains strong with a double-digit EBITDA margin of 10.9%. Order intake exceeds the last 2 quarters with EUR 51.3 million. Order backlog reduced slightly from the year-end level of EUR 184 million to now EUR 173 million. Furthermore, our balance sheet remains strong with EUR 133 million net cash. Let us now jump into a few details. Based on the declining order intake and backlog over the course of '24, we forecasted a decline in revenue for 2025. Across segments, we achieved after 3 months, a revenue of EUR 60.5 million, which means a decrease of 6.2% year-over-year. The revenue of our Next Automation segment decreased to EUR 9.5 million as the previous years or previous year contains the larger revenue from a big order in the photovoltaics area. The E-mobility segment, on the other hand, increased revenue by 5% to EUR 51 million. Our profitability shows a stable result despite decreased revenue. EBITDA achieved the previous year's level with EUR 6.6 million, and the EBITDA margin increased slightly to 10.9%. The margin exceeds both the prior year level of 10.5% and the guidance of 8% to 10% for the full year 2025. The E-mobility segment contributes a large part of the result. EBITDA increased by 16% to EUR 6.2 million, which means a margin increase to 12.2% EBITDA margin. But also in Next Automation, we see an attractive margin of 14.2%, but as mentioned, on a [indiscernible]. Bottom line, EUR 6.6 million total EBITDA mean EUR 5.6 million earnings before taxes, which is an EBT margin of 9.3%. Order intake and order backlog decreased significantly below the previous year's level due to the challenging market environment. We see a continued reluctance to invest in the automotive sector, but we also see signs of growth again. On the other hand, the efforts in the Next Automation segment are gradually translated into order intake as the sales pipeline is rising. Across segments, we see a decline in order intake of 32% year-over-year to EUR 51.3 million. Nevertheless, we are able to increase order intake compared to the 2 previous quarters. This results in a decreased total order backlog of EUR 173.4 million, which means a total reduction of 45% based on the record high level of Q1 2024. However, the current backlog is very solid in terms of profitability. Let's take a look at our segments. In the E-mobility segment, order intake of EUR 42.8 million is 38% under the previous year due to the mentioned market conditions. As a result, order backlog decreased by 47% to EUR 135.2 million. At the same time, revenue increased by 5% to EUR 51 million after 3 months 2025. And EBITDA improved by 60% to EUR 6.2 million, which means a margin of 12.2%. In the Next Automation segment, order intake increased year-over-year to EUR 8.5 million as the new positioning is opening new markets. As said, the previous year contained larger volumes in order backlog and revenue due to a big photovoltaics order. At end of March 2025, order backlog amounted EUR 38.3 million. After 3 months 2025, revenue decreased by 40% year-over-year to EUR 9.5 million. And the EBITDA margin is stable at 14.2% on a lower revenue level, which leads to an EBITDA of EUR 1.4 million. By the end of March 2025, our balance sheet is in a good shape with an equity ratio of 56.9% and EUR 140 million cash, of which EUR 133 million are net cash. This solid financial foundation allows us to respond flexibly to market opportunities and continue investing in technologies that enhance our competitiveness and innovation. Following the very successful year 2025, in May, we completed a public share buyback program of 10% of Almond shares at EUR 14.25 per share, which means that we paid back EUR 20.4 million to our shareholders. As a second pillar, we will propose to our AGM in June a dividend payment of EUR 0.22 per share, amounting a total of EUR 2.8 million. At the same time, we have sufficient financial resources for further growth and company acquisitions. To conclude, we confirm our guidance for 2025. In the last years, we increased our revenue level by almost 50% and EBITDA by more than 300%. Unfortunately, this year, we cannot continue this trend. The market environment and the noticeable reluctance to invest will lead to a decline in revenue to between EUR 210 million and EUR 230 million. However, on the profitability side, we can benefit from our high-quality order backlog and the flexible structure of our company. We will, therefore, achieve an EBITDA margin of 8% to 10%. Let me now hand over to Sebastian again.

Yes. Thanks, Jan. So to sum up, we started the year strong with a double-digit EBITDA margin, but for 2025, we expect, as Jan said, the decline in revenues. Nevertheless, we are aiming for a solid EBITDA margin of 8% to 10%. Order intake in the first quarters improved compared to recent quarters and we foresee, as said, the first signs of recovery in our industry during the course of the year, also supported by the decision of the European Union to relax emission tariffs. At the same time, we are pushing ahead next automation, unlocking growth beyond the automotive industry. A key focus is aerospace and defense backed by rising budget and urgent needs. All in all, with a high liquidity and a clear strategic focus, Aumann is ready for what's next. Thank you very much for your attention, and we are happy to take your questions.

Thank you very much for your presentation and your transparency, gentlemen. We will now move on to the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] And so far, we don't have any questions. I will hold the room up. Here's one hand up from Charlie. You should be able to speak now.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. Great results considering the tough environment. Just a few questions. One would be Next Automation came up to roughly 16.5% of sales in the first quarter. Could you give a little bit of rough guidance of how big Next Automation could become as a percentage of sales looking forward?

Yes, Charlie. So thank you for your question. I mean, Yes. I mean you know the business since years, so for sure, I mean -- we are now focusing especially on aviation and on defense. And I mean, last quarter Q1, we increased by roughly 20% coming, coming from a very low level. For example, the fourth quarter last year was even better already with more than EUR 48 million order intake, yes. So I mean, right now, we are filling up our pipeline. So our sales pipeline. So that means within our sales pipeline, we have really an increasing Next Automation segment right now, which is already -- this is a second high segment within our sales partner. And for sure, we hope to have a really positive development at least in the second half of the year. Yes, that's our goal. That's our aim to increase it and to have it more or less in the range of this EUR 40 million, EUR 15 million per quarter, at least -- and it's a little bit depending, as you know. I mean, if we really can get a big project within defense, it might be a little bit better. But yes, that's -- that's what we are working on right now.

[Operator Instructions] It doesn't seem like. So we come to the end of today's earnings call. Thank you for joining and listening. A big thank you also to the gentlemen for your presentation. And should further questions arise at a later time, please feel free to contact Investor Relations. And with this, I wish you all a lovely remaining week, and I hand over again to Mr. Roll for some final remarks.

Yes. Thank you very much for your interest. I hope we showed that Aumann is stable and ready for 2025. And for sure, we look forward to meeting you at our AGM or the next conferences. Thank you very much.