Trading update 1Q24

Kortrijk, Belgium, 23 April 2024, 7:30 am – Today Barco (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB) announced the results for the 1^st quarter ended 31 March 2024.

First quarter 2024 highlights

•      Orders for 1Q24 of 220.1 million euro, 23% lower vs 1Q23

•      Order book per 31 March 2024 at 524.8 million euro, growing 6% versus 31 December 2023 and 1% lower than end of March 2023

•      1Q24 sales of 195.9 million euro, 21% lower vs 1Q23 (19% at constant currencies)

•      Barco advanced its focused factories strategy, ready to start the production in the new Entertainment factory in Wuxi, China, in the second quarter.

•      Although the second quarter will not show growth, management confirms the full year guidance, assuming markets do not further deteriorate.

Executive summary 1Q24

Group topline

Quarter-by-quarter overview

Orders and sales for the first quarter of 2024 decreased compared to a strong first quarter in 2023, reflecting inventory destocking by our customers, mainly in Meeting Experience and Healthcare, and softer demand in the Entertainment markets.

Orders were down 23% year-over-year with each division reporting lower orders. EMEA reported the largest decline, driven by Meeting Experience due to inventory destocking by major customers, and by softer demand in Entertainment, partly linked to a weak movie slate in Cinema. In Americas double digit order growth in Enterprise stood in contrast with a reduction in orders in Entertainment, where we saw lower order intake for Cinema-as-a-Service compared to last year. In APAC, orders were essentially flat for Enterprise, but were lower for Healthcare and Entertainment. With a positive book-to-bill ratio, the orderbook for the Group strengthened to 524.8 million euro.

Sales declined 21% versus the same quarter last year, led by EMEA. In Americas, sales declined primarily in Entertainment, while Diagnostic Imaging and Control Rooms grew. In EMEA the sales decline was driven by customers working off above average inventory levels in Meeting Experience and Healthcare and by soft demand in Entertainment, both in Cinema and Immersive Experience. APAC was also impacted by the inventory correction in Healthcare and by soft demand in Immersive Experience.

Quote of the CEO's, An Steegen & Charles Beauduin

“The first quarter of 2024 was marked by an anticipated inventory destocking by our customers in Meeting Experience and Healthcare, which is expected to be largely completed by mid-year. In Entertainment, demand was hampered by the aftermath of the strikes in the North-American film industry, and customers delaying orders in anticipation of our new product launches. Barco has a broad funnel of new product introductions in all its divisions, which form a solid foundation for resumption of our growth from the second semester. We continue to invest in our innovation pipeline of breakthrough visualization technologies in preparation for more new product introductions in 2025. We also continue to strengthen our competitive cost position through our focused factories strategy, including the opening of the new Entertainment plant in China, which is due to start commercial production in the second quarter.”

Outlook 2024

The following statements are forward looking on a like-for-like basis and actual results may differ materially

In 2024, there is continued macro-economic and market condition uncertainty, which is reducing our visibility. We assume a return to normalized customer inventory levels, and we are on track with the planned new product launches over the course of the year.

Management expects topline for the full year to be in line with 2023, with year-over-year growth resuming in the second half of the year. From 2025, we expect topline growth on a full year basis.

The EBITDA margin is expected to be above 14% for the full year 2024.

Disclaimer
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Barco is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in light of new information, future events or otherwise. Barco disclaims any liability for statements made or published by third parties and does not undertake any obligation to correct inaccurate data, information, conclusions or opinions published by third parties in relation to this or any other press release issued by Barco.

About Barco
Barco, headquartered in Kortrijk (Belgium), is a global company leading in visualization, networking, and collaboration technology. Its innovative solutions drive advancements in the healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment markets. At the heart of Barco’s success are over 3,000 dedicated ‘visioneers’, each passionately contributing to driving change through technology.

Listed on Euronext (BAR), Reuters (BARBt.BR), and Bloomberg (BAR BB), Barco realized sales of 1,050 million euro in 2023.

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