voxeljet AG

greetings welcome to the voxel jet ag first quarter 2023 financial results conference call at this time all participants are on a listen-only mode a question and answer session will follow the formal presentation if anyone should require operator assistance during a conference please press star zero on your telephone keypad please note this conference is being recorded i will now turn the conference over to your host mr johannes pesh you may begin thank you operator and good morning everyone

With me today are Dr. Ingo Ederer, Voxeljet's Chief Executive Officer and Rudi Franz, Voxeljet's Chief Financial Officer. On Wednesday, after the market closed, Voxeljet issued a press release announcing its first quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2023. The release, as well as the accompanying presentation for this conference call, is available in the investor relations section of the company's website at voxeljet.com. During our call, we may make certain forward-looking statements about the company's performance, including expectations on results from our current order backlog. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore one should not place undue reliance upon them. Forward-looking statements are also subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed, including the risks and uncertainties caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic and the residing uncertainty in the global economy. For additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in our forward-looking statements, you should refer to the cautionary statements contained in our press release, as well as the risk factors contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Ingo, Chief Executive Officer of Oxygen.

Thank you Johannes. Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us on our earnings call today. We are happy with the start of the new business year. In our on-demand printing segment services, demand continues to be extremely robust both in Europe and in the US. This high demand is driven by large production orders, which is very exciting. For example, a supplier to a leading US-based exploration company recently placed another large order with Waterjet for printed PMMA patterns. These patterns are used to cast large titanium components that are mounted on space rockets. Historically, high on-demand printing revenue has led to higher systems revenue as customers upgrade from buying parts to operating their own 3D printers. So this makes us very optimistic for the rest of the year and beyond. Let's turn to slide four and a brief history of our company. On the left side, you can see the first prototype that we built around 1996 and the related patents. On the right side, you see our largest 3D printer, the VX4000. Our roots reach back to the year 1995 with the first successful dosing of UV resin. In the context of a hidden project, initial 3D printing tests were performed at the Technical University in Munich I co-founded the company on May 5, 1999, as a spin-off from the university with a clear vision in mind to establish new manufacturing standards. Today, we provide our customers a strategic competitive advantage by upgrading their existing production methods to additive manufacturing solutions. Let's turn to slide five, where we describe our technology. In the additive manufacturing market, there are likely more than 10 different technologies Each with its specified field of application use a technology called binder chatting. Binder chatting is especially suited for high volume manufacturing because of its potential to scale. With our VJX technology, we are pushing new boundaries. On slide six, you can find a high level overview of our company and recent key developments. In October 2022, we completed the same leaseback transaction of our headquarters in Germany. With the gross proceeds of approximately 26.5 million euros, we cleaned up the balance sheet and repaid our financial liabilities. In December 2022, we completed the revenue recognition of all five BJX units at BMW. The printers, which are integrated into a fully automated casting line, are in full operation at BMW's facility. Our production line produces several hundred complex engine components per day. These components are used to make the cars more efficient by improving the temperature management. Because the components are 3D printed, they can attain conformal shapes and can get closer to the heat and dissipate it more quickly. VGSX uses a new inorganic binding system for maximum environmental compatibility when casting the 3D printed core. Turning to slide seven, where we explain our two business segments. In the services segment, we operate our own 3D printers in three facilities around the world to offer affordable on-demand access to our technology. Our business model is very user-friendly, as customers only need to send in the 3D data, and we will print parts for them. That is a great and easy way for our customers to understand new business opportunities in 3D printing. Customers come from various industries, including automotive, aerospace, general engineering, as well as art and architecture. As mentioned earlier, in the U.S., one of our largest on-demand printing clients is a supplier to a leading space exploration company. In our system segment, we manufacture and sell industrial-grade, high-speed, large-format 3D printing systems geared towards mass production of complex models, modes, and direct parts. Systems revenue also includes recurring revenue from the sale of consumables, maintenance contracts, upgrades, and other after-sales activities. This recurring portion of revenues is growing as the install space of our CG printers expands. Let's turn to slide eight and an illustration of the wide range of applications of our technology. Slide nine shows an art piece we've recently printed for the BMW Art Club in Warsaw, Poland. It always amazes me to see the ideas clients come up with and to be able to make such ideas into reality with our binder chatting technology. Slide 10 shows our global sales network and production footprint. As you can see, we have reached an established position in all major markets in Europe, USA, as well as Asia. Since March 2022, we have stopped our activities in Russia and Belarus until further notice. Turning to slide 11, on the left side, we have summarized our USPs. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by build size, material diversity, and speed. This leads to a complete set of industrial 3D printers to address the challenges and needs that are most important to our customers. Each model can be used with multiple material sets. On the right side of this slide, you can see our portfolio of 3D printers and the corresponding build volume. Layer times may vary with the platform and process and can go as fast as four seconds with the DJX. Let's start with the formal part of the presentation. I will begin with an overview of the results for the first quarter. Guddi will then provide a more in-depth view of our financials for the first quarter 2023 and our outlook for the rest of the year. Following his comments, we will be happy to take your questions. Turning to slide 13, total revenue for the first quarter this year increased 30% to 6.0 million euros from 4.6 million euros in the first quarter last year. That's a great result. In services, our on-demand 3D printing segment, we saw another robust quarter with continuous high demand for our products. Revenue from our German and Chinese service centers was slightly below the very successful first quarter in the previous year. reflected by a decrease of 11% year-over-year for this segment. In systems revenue, revenue increased 123% as we sold one unit of our largest printers in the first quarter of 2023 compared to one smaller system in the first quarter of 2022. The recurring portion of revenue is also growing as the install base of our 3D printers extends. This includes the sale of consumables, maintenance contracts, upgrades and other after-sales activities. Gross profits in the system segment more than quadrupled and gross margin almost doubled from 17.3% in the first quarter 2022 to 33.5% in the first quarter this year. Gross profit margin in the services segment decreased to 30% from 41.7% in the first quarter 2023. This was mainly related to lower gross profit from our German and the Chinese service centers. We continue to see changes when it comes to lead times for certain electrical components for our printers, and we are working hard with our suppliers on this topic. Slide 14 breaks down order backlog by quarters, revenue by geography, and operating expenses by category. In looking at revenue by geographic region, we target an even distribution across the three regions to hedge against risk from local events. Order backlog for 3D printers increased 62% from 5.7 million euros at the end of the first quarter last year to 9.2 million euros at the end of this year's first quarter. Turning to slide 15, I'm very excited to share a schematic of our massive new 3D printer, VIX 9000 DSP with you, together with GE. Renewable Energy, we are developing the world's largest binder jet 3D printer for the production of critical components for the next generation of wind turbines called Halyard X. As you can see from the slide, we are aiming for a build area of more than 60 square meters. That's more than seven times the build area of our currently largest system, the VX4000. Why did GE choose the voxel jets? For 20 years, we have been developing the largest and fastest binder chatting printers in the industry, and we have built a comprehensive IP portfolio. With the extra large build area of the new 3D printer, the number of individual parts can be significantly reduced. In addition, the mode for casting can be optimized in terms of functionality and material consumption. This optimization makes it possible completely new casting designs that can enhance the efficiency of the turbine. Also, it streamlines logistics. The 3D printer can be operated close to the location where the mold will be cast, optimizing what could otherwise be very complex logistics, like long and complicated road transportation. What exactly is our part in this project? We will handle the design, mechanical development, and creation of the prototypes. as well as commercialization of the new printers. GE will supply turbine know-how and digital blueprints of the parts to be printed by the machine. Fraunhofer will do the research and development on incorporating new printing concepts and experimentation. So how big could this market opportunity become? According to research from McKinsey, the global installed offshore wind capacity is expected to reach 630 gigawatts by 2050, up from 40 gigawatts in 2020, and with upside potential of 1,000 gigawatts in a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway scenario. The International Energy Agency has projected the global offshore wind capacity will increase 15-fold by 2040, becoming a $1 trillion industry. thanks to failing costs, supportive government policies, and technological progress, like those behind the Halyard X offshore wind turbine. In the US, the White House has taken decisive action to jumpstart the American offshore wind industry, including a $9.8 billion in new investments in 2022, more than triple the previous year. While advancing the first large-scale projects and new manufacturing, and port activity along the East Coast. The Biden administration has also supported development of the entire supply chain that stretches across other regions from steel production in Alabama, Kentucky, and West Virginia to shipbuilding in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and beyond. So we are very excited about this project. Slide 16 highlights recent improvements in the performance of our binder chaining technology. We have shown a similar slide in the last earnings presentation and now added estimates for the new printer that we are developing in collaboration with GE. For this project, we plan to build what we believe to be the largest binder jet printhead ever made. It is planned to be around seven meters in length and cover the whole printing area in a single pass. It is absolutely massive and we calculate that if we can achieve the development goals It would print more than 2,500 liters per hour. On the next two slides, you can see two examples of how our clients, TI and Sheryl Marine, are using our technology for series production. Turning to slide 17, TI is using the world's largest 3D sand printer to produce cores for the series production of large-format, weight-saving structural components for the Cadillac They just added another system in the first quarter and now own three VX4000 printers. Using 3D printing, the novel underbody structure consists of only six large-position sand casting aluminum parts. Each of the six castings reduces the number of parts by 30 to 40 components compared to a typical stamped construction. On slide 18, you can see the share-row propeller. You have heard me talk about this very exciting project in the earlier presentation. Slide 19 summarizes our value proposition. Our commitment to technology leadership is stronger than ever. It can be seen by how we have advanced our research and development strategy over the last few years. We have now started to capitalize on these investments. We believe we are well on our way towards possible growth. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Ruben.

Thank you, Ingo. Good morning, everyone. We're happy with the results for the quarter and how about the business is developing. I will now take you through the financials for the first quarter. After that, we are happy to take your questions. Turning to slide 21. First quarter 2023 revenues increased almost 30% to 6 million euros in the first quarter this year as compared to 4.6 million euros in the same period last year. Cross-profit margin in the quarter slightly decreased to 32% from 34% in the first quarter last year. Let's break this down. In systems, cross-profit margin from the sale of 3D printers increased because of a different product mix. We sold one unit of our large system, and larger systems typically generate higher cross-margin. In services, Germany and China contributed lower cross-margin as compared to the first quarter of the previous year. In the next slide, show our segment reporting for the quarter on slide 22 revenues from our system segment which includes revenues from selling 3d printers consumables and spare parts as well as maintenance increased 122.8 percent to 3.2 million euros for the first quarter this year from 1.4 million euros for the first quarter last year we sold one large new printer this quarter compared to one small new printer in the first quarter 2022 We are also encouraged to see the recurring revenue portion growing as the sole base of our printers expands. The consumer business especially can generate high cross-profits. On slide 23, services revenue decreased 11% to 2.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 3.2 million euros in the same quarter last year. Services cross-profit margin decreased to 30% in the first quarter of 2023 from 42% in the same quarter 2020. Looking now to the rest of the financial highlights in slide 24, selling expenses increased to 1.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2023. The majority of our selling expenses are personal expenses and distribution expenses such as freight and commission for sales agents. This compares to 1.6 million euros in the first quarter of 2022. Administrative expenses decreased to 1.5 million euros as compared to 1.7 million euros in the first quarter of 2022. Keep in mind, we typically spend more than a million euros in auditing fees per year and over 5 million euros in legal fees. Research and development expenses increase to 1 to 6 million euros in the first quarter compared to 1 to 4 million euros in the same quarter 2022. These expenses are usually driven by individual projects, especially through the consumption of material as well as demand of external services and may vary significantly from quarter to quarter. Operating loss was 2.8 million euros in the first quarter of 2023, compared to an operating loss of 1.1 million euros in the comparative period in 2022. This increase in loss was mainly due to the one-off impact in the first quarter of 2022 from the reclassification of foreign currency translation, the reserve in connection with the wind-down of oxidative cases. We received approximately over €5 million in research and development expense from reimbursement and grants this quarter, up from over €1 million in the same quarter last year. As a result, net loss for the quarter was €3.2 million, or €0.34 per ADX, compared to a net loss of over €8 million, or €0.10 in the prior year's same quarter. Shares outstanding as of March 31, 2023, are 9.134724, and on slide 25, we show selected value items. As of March 31st, 2023, the company has cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments in bond funds of roughly 50 million euros. This includes restricted cash of approximately 3 million euros. Total financial debt as of March 31st, 2023 was approximately 2.5 million euros. Moving now on to slide 26, now financial balance for full year 2023, which remains unchanged. Revenue for the second quarter of 2023 is expected to be the range of 4.25 and 5.75 million euros. And this concludes my remarks. And the vet will now open the call up for your questions, operator.

At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants, use the speaker equipment. It may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Our first question comes from the line of Brian Stingler from Alliance Global Partners. Please proceed with your question.

Great. Thanks for taking my question. My first question is systems revenue is up 100% year over year, a little bit more in the first quarter. You talked about selling one printer, which is bigger than the one you sold in 2022 in the first quarter. So I know prices are different. But can you tell us roughly how much of the growth was from the higher price system versus more of the after sales pieces such as consumables?

The increase comes primarily from the sale of the system, so probably 80 percent. And the remaining portion comes then out of recurring revenue consumable spare parts and maintenance.

Okay. So, does that suggest to me that the price of the large system was close to, say, $2 million?

We do not disclose those numbers in detail. The average selling price of the system still is given at a range of 500,000 to 600,000 euro. Have in mind that the smaller systems are 200K, which starts with a week's 200 up to 1.65 million euro for a week's 4,000. And I think within those ballpark numbers, you then can come to the right number. That's helpful.

Great. And then you said services revenue is down as a result of the lower contribution from the China and German facilities. I think you've made similar comments in the last few quarters about this partially offsetting the growth there. So can you talk about the actual drivers behind the lower services demand at these facilities?

Well, I would say the business was really good. and the first quarter last year was extremely good, let's say this way. I would say the German facility is running at capacity, which is quite nice. We had some movements of revenue we needed to book in the next quarter. I think this explains it for Germany. China was relatively under pressure in the first quarter. We believe that it's becoming better during the rest of the year.

Right. Why is China under pressure? Is it still the effects of the lockdowns and opening up? I mean, is it the customers?

Exactly. So it was still suffering a little bit of the COVID situation, but this is now relieved. So we believe that it's now going much better for the remaining year.

And then can you comment on the mix of the 12 printers in your backlog? Are they generally the larger and higher price system? Is it evenly split between the smaller and larger? Maybe just a little more detail would be helpful. Thank you.

So we are focusing, thank you for the question, Brian. We are focusing more on the larger printers, and that's how it is in this current backlog as well. It's more the larger printers.

So the environment generally is good for the larger printers. This is what we see on a global scale. Especially in the sand printing area, the request for production printers is really increasing.

Great. Last question I have is, for your large Bavarian auto customer who's got five printers, I mean, they're not printing a large amount of a variety of their different parts i don't think so what has to happen for that customer take more printers how far are we for other parts assuming they are successful with those five they've got so for this moment we can we can name this company bmw so it's already released um

They are currently testing these printers or the technology for this combustion engine as you anticipate. Of course, they are thinking about different components for electrical vehicles in future. You need to know that only a smaller portion of their production is made in-house. They are also seeking with their suppliers for future production capabilities and that's why we are um let's say very curious about uh how how these suppliers will approach us in in future we already had uh discussions with them we we believe that this is becoming closer and and better for the near future right thanks

And we have reached the end of the question and answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Dr. Ingo Ederer for closing remarks.

Thank you. So it was good seeing many of you at the RAPID show a couple of weeks back in Chicago. Thank you for joining today's call, and we look forward to speaking with you again in our next earnings call, which we expect to take place in August with results for the second quarter 2023. Thank you very much, and have a good weekend. Thank you very much. could be controlled.

And this concludes today's conference and you may disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation.