H1’23 results came in slightly below last year’s figures (-6% yoy to € 42m) and roughly in-line with eNuW of € 44m, with 87% of which from machines sales and 13% from service and spare parts.

The Solar segment

(60% of sales)

50% yoy to € 25m, reflecting the delivery of wet chemistry equipment to Enel for a new production site for high-performance solar modules.

Life Science revenues slumped by c

. 50% yoy to € 12m (29% of sales), as the prior year was marked by large projects featuring Singulus’ MEDLINE wet processing technology for contact lenses. According to management, in H1’23, a large customer placed an order for the new generation of MEDLINE, which is more productive and expected to replace the customer’s entire installed base. Respective revenues should accrue in 2024e, in our view.

The Semi segment

(10% of sales)

, driven by the fast-growing market for magnetic sensors, which are used across a wide range of applications including wearables, handhelds and eMobility. Singulus is the market and technology leader for equipment used to produce these magnetic sensors.

H1’23 EBIT arrived at € -0.7m

(eNuW: € -0.2m), down from the prior year’s € 1.5m, which was impacted by a net positive € 1.9m one-off, comprising € 3.4m other income from the termination of the leasing agreement at a closed site and € 1.5m restructuring expenses. Negative EBIT reflects sub-scale operations with insufficient fixed cost coverage. Positively, the gross margin remained flat yoy at 26.6%.

H1’23 order intake was soft

, declining 28% yoy to € 24m due to project postponements. Management is confident to achieve stronger bookings in H2: the implied outlook is for € 50-60 order intake in H2’23e carried by further solar orders from Enel and orders from China for semi equipment, amongst other.

Singulus confirmed its recently reduced FY guidance of € 90-100m sales (prior: € 140-150m) and “low single digit m € EBIT” (prior: “low double digit”).

We adjust the rec

. to Hold (old: under review), as 2020 and 2021 accounts have finally been audited. However, it looks too early to Buy given a soft balance sheet, volatile earnings history and limited visibility on project wins, following recent postponements. The new PT of € 2.90 is based on DCF.