NCAB's Board of Directors has today decided to publish preliminary sales and order intake for Q1 2020. The Board of Directors has also decided to withdraw the earlier dividend proposal and to postpone the Annual General Meeting.
NCAB will report a first quarter with net sales of approximately SEK 482 million, which is 8 percent better than last year. The newly acquired Flatfield in the Netherlands accounts for the major part of the improvement. The market for PCBs has remained strong in the Nordic countries, the USA and Asia, but weaker in southern Europe. Order intake in the first quarter amounted to SEK 561m, ie 27 per cent better than last year. One third of the increase can be attributed to the acquisition of Flatfield. The other part of the improvement is largely due to the fact that many customers place orders earlier than before due to uncertainty about the delivery capacity from China, which has resulted in an order backlog spread over a longer period of time. EBITA during the first quarter excluding Flatfield is expected to be in line with previous year.
– NCAB had a slightly weaker December 2019 as the Christmas holidays meant many days off. This was offset by a strong January 2020. The Chinese New Year and the subsequent Coronavirus outbreak in China in February led to delivery problems, which were, however, less than expected. Instead, many customers increased their order volumes. At the end of March, our factories in China were up and running at about 80 percent and could start delivering. At the same time, the Coronavirus spread to the United States and Europe, with the serious consequences we now see in disease cases, dead and closed communities. Nevertheless, demand for NCAB's PCBs is still good. However, the variance is huge between different sectors. Those of our customers, who in turn sell to the automotive industry, see a clear slowdown, while there are strong increases in demand from the medtech industry. Given how many countries that are now completely shut down and how the world economy is losing momentum, our second quarter will clearly be weaker, although it is difficult to say how much, comments Hans Ståhl, President and CEO.
The full first quarter report is published according to the plan on May 8.
The Board of Directors of NCAB proposes to cancel the previously proposed dividend (4.75 per share) to create an additional financial buffer. NCAB has a good financial position. In these times, however, the Board wants to create stability, but also a possibility to be able to act offensively and take advantage of opportunities in the market.
The Board has also today decided, due to the increased risk level for the spread of the coronavirus and due to the recommendations recently issued by the Swedish government and authorities, to postpone the Annual General Meeting to Friday 5 June at 13:00. NCAB will also explore the possibility for shareholders to participate remotely. The Annual General Meeting was originally scheduled to be held on May 11. Notice of the AGM will be published no later than four weeks before the new date for the AGM. The annual report will be published on April 15.
For further information, please contact:
Gunilla Öhman, Head of Investor Relations, +46 70 763 81 25
About NCAB
NCAB is a worldwide leading supplier of printed circuit boards, listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. NCAB is offering PCBs for demanding customers, on time with zero defects, produced sustainably at the lowest total cost. NCAB was founded in 1993. Since its foundation, the operations have been characterized by an entrepreneurial and cost-efficient culture and have over time showed strong growth and good profitability. Today, NCAB has local presence in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and North America and customers in approximately 45 countries worldwide. Net sales in 2019 amounted to SEK 1,781 million. Organic growth and acquisitions are part of NCAB’s strategy. For more information about NCAB Group please visit us at www.ncabgroup.com.