Vaisala - Solid growth and orders, soft profitability
Vaisala’s Q4 EBIT missed our estimates at EUR 16.3m (EUR 17.5m Evli). On the other hand, W&E growth and orders were strong.
- Q4 group result: Orders received were strong and increased by 14% y/y while order book stood at EUR 172.5m (+12%). Group net sales increased by 4% to EUR 147.4m, slightly above our estimates (143.6/142.7m Evli/cons.). As expected, W&E sales were stronger, yet the growth was still stronger than we expected. Gross margin improved to a strong level of 54.3% (53.5% Q4/22) driven by smaller impact from spot component purchases. EBIT amounted to EUR 16.3m (17.5/17.7m Evli/cons.), reflecting a margin of 11.0%. EBIT improvement was mainly driven by the gross margin development.
- Industrial measurements (IM): Orders decreased by 8% (FX -8%) y/y and order book declined to EUR 35.2m (-16%). Net sales decreased by 4% y/y to EUR 57.6m (FX 1%), below our estimates (Evli: 58.4m). Net sales decreased very strongly in life science and were at previous year’s level in industrial instruments market segments and liquid measurements market. On the other hand, net sales in power and energy market segment grew very strongly. IM profitability was clear letdown as even though the segment had no additional costs related to component spot purchases (-4.3% Q4/22), the gross margin improved only 1% y/y due to lower volume and price pressure in China.
- Weather and Environment (W&E): Orders received increased by 35% (FX 37%) y/y and order book was up by 22% y/y. W&E’s net sales grew by 10% (FX 14%) to EUR 89.8m, above our estimates (Evli: 85.2m). Net sales grew in all market segments, very strongly in aviation market segment and strongly in renewable energy market segment. Similarly to IM, improved gross margin due to lower amount of component spot purchases drove EBIT margin to 8.3% (2.2%).
- Outlook 2024: Net sales EUR 530-570m and EBIT EUR 63-78m