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20 Sep 2022
Xaar : Self-help eXcelence - Buy

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Xaar : Self-help eXcelence - Buy
Xaar plc (XAR:LON) | 120 1.8 1.3% | Mkt Cap: 95.5m
- Published:
20 Sep 2022 -
Author:
Ben Bourne | Thomas Rands, CFA -
Pages:
8 -
1H outturn: Revenue grew 39% y-o-y to £36.6m, 10% ahead of our £33.3m estimate and represents 14% y-o-y and 9% h-o-h organic growth. Gross profit increased 75% y-o-y to £14.5m, 15% ahead of our estimate on strong Printhead margins and were extremely strong in Product Print. Gross profit margin increased 900bps y-o-y and 400bps h-o-h to 40%, mostly driven by operational efficiency improvements. All businesses delivered positive adjusted EBITDA, marking a key inflection point for Xaar. Input cost inflation has been successfully mitigated through higher selling prices. Investment increased in inventory of both components and finished goods, as expected, reducing net cash to a still healthy £12.7m (we had £13.0m).
Printhead growth held back by Chinese bottlenecks: Printhead volumes continued to recover as previous customers returned and new customers further engaged in new machine designs. Overall volume growth was only 2%, with growth in Europe (+7% y-o-y) and North America (+26%) mostly offset by weakness in China (-22%) due to on-going Covid-related disruption. Coding & Marking and Additive Manufacturing were the strongest end markets.
Product Print restructuring drives material growth: The 2021 restructuring is delivering, with revenue up 51% y-o-y and gross margin doubling to 39%. This segment could now be a more material part of the medium-term growth profile.
Aqueous printhead launch set for 4Q22: We believe this new product could, in time, be a key growth driver for Xaar. The on-track launch in mid-4Q22 (we assume November) follows a year of beta testing with key partners.
Huntingdon clean room restructuring: During 1Q23, the Huntingdon site will close for two months to undergo a significant modernisation. We reflect this disruption in our FY23E profit forecasts, but leave FY24E unchanged.