Sales and orders for the first quarter represented the 2nd best quarter -following a solid fourth quarter of 2021- since the pandemic began.
Continued demand recovery drove order growth, fueled by strong uptakes in the Meeting Experience business unit, due to positive back-to-office dynamics in both EMEA and the Americas, and in the Immersive Experience business unit. All regions contributed to the growth except for the APAC region in part due to the impact of lockdowns in China.
Driven by positive book-to-bill performances in all divisions, for the fourth consecutive quarter, orderbook grew solidly to a new record level of 530 million euro, an increase of 44 million euro compared to year-end 2021 with the most solid uptakes in Entertainment.
Double-digit sales growth reflected primarily deliveries on a strong orderbook for the Immersive Experience and Surgical and Modality business units. While sales were higher year-over-year in all divisions, component shortages continued to cause delays in converting orders to sales (impact 25 million euro, mainly Entertainment).
Quote of the CEO's, An Steegen & Charles Beauduin
“We are pleased to have started 2022 with a solid first quarter performance as demand continues to rebound across all end markets.
As demand recovers, we believe we are well positioned to capture the growth opportunities across our markets. That said, we recognize that supply chain constraints may still hamper the pace of orders to sales conversion and our margin recovery. We are however confident that the hard work and commitment in further mitigating this impact as we experience it day in, day out across our organization will gradually deliver tangible results.”
Outlook 2022 - current
The following statements are forward looking, and actual results may differ materially.
Management is confirming its 1H outlook, assuming no further deterioration of the supply chain constraints, with sales expected to increase approximately 20% compared to 1H21. EBITDA margin is expected to be higher than the full year 2021 EBITDA margin.
Update on structure Cinionic
Per 20 April 2022², Barco agreed to buy the stakes held by Appotronics and CITICPE in Cinionic, increasing Barco’s ownership interest to 80% of the joint venture.
Appotronics will remain a strategic partner for Cinionic with the distribution agreement in place.
[2] In 2017 Barco announced the formation of Cinionic, a strategic joint venture with China Film Co. Ltd (“CFG”), Appotronics and CITICPE in which Barco had a 55% ownership interest, Appotronics and CFG each had a 20% ownership interest and CITICPE had a 5% ownership interest.