Bocholt, November 18th, 2022 - Gigaset AG (ISIN: DE0005156004), an international communications technology company, today announced in an ad hoc release that the forecast at the beginning of the year, which called for a slight increase in revenues and EBITDA as well as a moderately positive free cash flow, has been adjusted. The reasons for this are negative exchange rate effects between the Euro and the US Dollar, a short-term improvement in the materials situation in Q4 and the first positive earnings from sales price adjustments.
The ad hoc announcement to the capital market was made after the Management Board of Gigaset AG became aware of a change in the information position and a current assessment of the further course of business in 2022.
Previously, the company had forecast a slight increase in revenue and EBITDA as well as a moderately positive free cash flow:
1. Now an increase in revenue in the range between EUR 235 million and EUR 250 million (cf. 2021 EUR 217.1 million) is expected. This is due to a short-term improvement in material availability in Q4 and first positive effects from sales price adjustments. Due to the poor material availability in the first half of the year, the company also assumed significant bottlenecks in the second half of the year when preparing the outlook at the beginning of 2022. Thanks to spot transactions and additional deliveries of central components, it is now possible to produce significantly more than expected in the fourth quarter. The new revenue forecast is also positively influenced by sales price adjustments and the constantly high demand on the market.
2. EBITDA was previously expected to increase slightly compared to 2021. As Gigaset pays for the majority of the necessary materials and components in US Dollars, the exchange rate effects that set in with the start of the Ukraine war are having a negative impact. The strongest effect comes from the depreciation of the euro against the US Dollar. This led to a significant increase in the cost of materials for Gigaset. Accordingly, the adjusted forecast now expects earnings of between EUR 6 million and EUR 15 million (2021 EUR 16.5 million).
3. The initial forecast for the free cash flow remains unaffected. It is expected to be moderately positive, between EUR 0.1 million and EUR 3 million (2021 minus EUR 14.2 million).
"Overall, more would have been possible for Gigaset in 2022," says Thomas Schuchardt, CFO of Gigaset AG. "The demand was there, the material not always. The Ukraine war came just as unexpectedly as the Corona pandemic two years ago and also and again caused serious consequences. Gigaset was hit hardest by the exchange rate and inflation effects, so that the costs on the procurement side presented us with major challenges. Accordingly, we are positive about the improved availability of materials at the end of the year and the expected increase in sales as a result."