ZEISS Announce 6% Revenue Increase In Half-Year Financial Results
Overall, the first six months of fiscal year 2019/20 (ended 31 March 2020) went well for the ZEISS Group. It saw its revenue rise by 6 percent to EUR 3.213 billion (first six months of 2018/19: EUR 3.019 billion). 90 percent of this sum was generated by markets outside Germany. At EUR 455 million, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were slightly higher than the previous year (EUR 443 million). The EBIT margin was at 14.2%. Incoming orders hit EUR 3.601 billion (1st six months of 2018/19: EUR 3.161 billion).
“Overall, we were successful during the first half of the fiscal year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the global economy – including on ZEISS’ lines of business,” said Dr. Karl Lamprecht, ZEISS President and CEO. He continued: “ZEISS’ resilience measures will help it combat the current challenges in the best possible way.”
In the first half of the year, the four segments of the ZEISS Group developed according to different dynamics.
In the Industrial Quality & Research segment, the Industrial Quality Solutions area felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic due to weak development in the automobile industry. In the past fiscal year ZEISS acquired GOM (Germany), a leading supplier of hardware and software for optical 3D coordinate metrology. This enabled ZEISS to generate further growth potential in surface measurement and digitalization.
| Revenue (in EUR million) | |||
| Â | 1st six months of 2019/20 |
1st six months of 2018/19 |
Change (like-for-like) |
| Industrial Quality & Research | 865 | 820 | +5% (-7%) |
Many predict that the COVID-19 pandemic will result in considerable challenges for the global economy. ZEISS is now also feeling the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and a decline in its business – to differing extents at the regional and segment levels. However, thanks to a package of measures launched early on, ZEISS has been able to navigate its way through the COVID-19 crisis. ZEISS is now consistently pursuing this program of measures.
At this time it is not possible to make a reliable prediction for the 2019/20 fiscal year due to the global uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a decline in revenue and EBIT is to be expected during the second half of the fiscal year.
“This is the time for stability – particularly with regard to providing our customers with the best possible service. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic requires a high level of flexibility and a concerted effort from all employees,” says Lamprecht. “Moreover, we are already thinking about life after the COVID-19 pandemic so that we, as an innovative company, can better leverage the opportunities to emerge from this situation even stronger.” Since launching its comprehensive packages of measures to combat the COVID-19 crisis, ZEISS believes it is stable and well-structured due to its portfolio – which is aligned with megatrends – as well as its strong market position, international setup and strategic investment for the future.
For more information: www.zeiss.com
