Bystronic Annual Report 2022 

Editorial

Continued growth and successful expansion of the portfolio

The trends towards an increased level of automation, digitalization, and sustainable business processes shaped the sheet metal processing market in the 2022 financial year, enabling Bystronic to leverage growth opportunities in the three segments of systems, software, and service. The Group achieved robust order intake and solid sales growth. However, supply chain delays, higher procurement costs, and the targeted expansion of growth areas had a temporary negative impact on profitability. Thanks to our solid market position, we are confident that we can continue to grow and achieve the ambitious goals of our strategy over the medium term.

Demand at a robust level

Our customers operate in a wide range of industries. This is due to the versatility of sheet metal, which makes it suitable for a virtually unlimited array of applications. Thanks to the diversity of the markets serviced by our customers, our cyclical risks are highly diversified. This diversification was crucial to our success in the 2022 financial year and makes our business model resilient. In spite of the subdued momentum in certain sectors, we achieved robust order intake, notwithstanding a noticeable slowdown in demand in the second half-year.

In total, order intake amounted to CHF 1,009.5 million. The APAC (Asia-Pacific) region once again developed very positively, posting double-digit growth, while the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), the Americas, and China regions experienced a decline.

Solid growth with lower profitability

Bystronic generated sales growth of 8.1% to CHF 1,015.9 million. Considering the market environment, this can be seen as a solid performance. The operating result (EBIT) stood at CHF 48.1 million (EBIT margin: 4.7%).

Profitability was impacted by three effects: Firstly, revenue recognition was delayed owing to a lack of components as a result of supply bottlenecks. Secondly, we again expanded strategic growth areas. Thirdly, problems in the supply chain and inflation resulted in higher procurement and shipping costs.

Focus on strategic growth areas and sustainability

The trends toward increased automation and digitalization continued to gain momentum in the 2022 financial year. As a supplier of end-to-end solutions, we support our customers not only with machines and automation systems, but also with software and maintenance services. We made healthy progress in all three strategic growth areas–systems, software, and service.

In the systems business, we strengthened our market-leading position with additional product innovations. We were successful in selling our 20-kilowatt laser cutting system, and towards the end of the year we introduced our innovation, a 30-kilowatt laser cutter. In the software business, we launched the groundbreaking “BySoft Suite” solution. This modular software family supports our customers in digitalizing their business processes. Furthermore, in the service business, we invested in the build-up of additional capacities. We are very pleased to have once again achieved double-digit sales growth in this area.

Another milestone was the publication of our very first Sustainability Report in accordance with GRI standards. We thus underlined our determination to make both our own business activities and those of our customers more sustainable. In order to achieve this, we established a dedicated Sustainability Council, embedded the ESG target achievement in the remuneration of the Group management, and published data such as our carbon footprint and energy consumption.

Dividend

Bystronic looks to the future with confidence. In view of the solid liquidity, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that slightly more than two-thirds of the net result be distributed to the shareholders for the financial year 2022. The total dividend thus amounts to CHF 24.8 million or CHF 12.00 per class A registered share and CHF 2.40 per class B registered share. Even after this distribution, Bystronic continues to enjoy a strong balance sheet and high liquidity. The company is thus in a strong position to pursue further organic and acquisitive growth.

Outlook and medium-term targets

Bystronic’s very strong position in an attractive, growing market promises market share gains and profitable growth. In the mid-term, subject to the recovery of the economy, we continue to aim for annual organic sales growth in excess of 5%, an EBIT margin in excess of 12%, and a RONOA of more than 25%.

Thanks to the high order backlog, the highly diversified customer base, and the encouraging growth of the service business, we look to 2023 with confidence. We expect a higher operating result with slightly lower sales.

Outstanding team spirit

During the reporting year, we made further progress in our strategic growth areas. We owe this success to the commitment and team spirit of our employees. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their outstanding performance. For example, the exceptional commitment of our procurement and supply chain management teams enabled us to keep the lead times for our customers as short as possible. We would also like to thank all our business partners and our shareholders for their great support and their trust.

Changes in the Board of Directors

After 46 years on the Board of Directors – 30 of which as its Chairman – Jacob Schmidheiny is stepping down on account of his age with effect from the 2023 Annual General Meeting. The Board of Directors extends its appreciation and gratitude to Jacob Schmidheiny for his many years of farsighted service and outstanding collaboration and sincerely wishes him all the best for the future. The Board of Directors proposes Felix Schmidheiny and Eva Zauke for election as new members of the Board of Directors to the ordinary Annual General Meeting in April 2023.

Zurich, March 2, 2023

Dr. Heinz O. Baumgartner

Chairman of the Board
of Directors

Alex Waser

CEO