(AWP) The component manufacturer Huber + Suhner (HUBN 80.50 +4.01%) implemented significantly more in the first nine months of 2021 than in the previous year and, above all, won a large number of new orders. The targets for the entire 2021 financial year are confirmed despite the current difficulties in the supply chains.
Sales rose in the period from January to September by 15% to CHF 645.4 million. Adjusted for currency and copper price influences, the increase was 11.4%, as the specialist for electrical and optical connection technology announced on Thursday. Incoming orders increased by as much as 30% to CHF 743.2 million. The growth rates for sales and incoming orders have increased again compared to the first half of the year (12.7% / 24.6%).
The company has thus more or less returned to the value of 2019 in terms of sales, i.e. the value before the corona crisis. In terms of incoming orders, Huber + Suhner was even significantly above the pre-corona value in the reporting period. And analysts’ estimates were also exceeded. The AWP consensus was CHF 632.5 million for sales and CHF 689.0 million for incoming orders.
With regard to the divisions, the announcement states that the industrial market segment with its diversified portfolio is in positive territory after nine months with a double-digit growth rate. In the communication segment, the positive momentum even increased again in the third quarter. And the transport segment also showed an uneven development of the two sub-segments in the third quarter.
Confidence – share buyback planned from the end of the month
With a view to the future, the company from eastern Switzerland is confident. The broad economic recovery continued in the third quarter, which after nine months manifested itself in a significant increase in incoming orders compared to the same period in the previous year, it is said. And sales growth in all three market segments was also in the double-digit percentage range.
The greatest risk currently comes from scarce capacities in global supply chains and transports. Huber + Suhner anticipates that this situation will continue and that bottlenecks will persist in many industries. Nevertheless, the management confirms the guidance of double-digit sales growth for the current financial year with an operating profit margin slightly above the medium-term EBIT target range of 8 to 10%.
Huber + Suhner also plans to launch a share buyback program at the end of the month. Up to 5% of the share capital is to be bought back via a second trading line on the SIX. As a result, a sustainable compression of the earnings per share can be achieved, it is said to justify. In view of the “high liquidity and the strong balance sheet”, the “strategic flexibility for future investments and acquisitions” is guaranteed. The details of the course of the share buyback program would be communicated as part of the publication of the program, it is said.
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