Aixtron Se Unsp/Adr

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Christian Ludwig. A warm welcome on my side to Acron's Q2 2026 conference call. I am very sorry for the technical delays that we had experienced and that had to keep you waiting. We had some major issues with our external provider. We're working on this, so next time hopefully we'll have a smooth communication. With me in the room today is our CEO, Dr. Felix Grafath, and our CFO, Dr. Christian Dunningham, who will guide you through today's presentation and then take your questions. This call is being recorded by Extron and is considered copyright material. As such, it cannot be recorded or rebroadcast without permission. Your participation in this call implies your consent to the recording. Please take note of the disclaimer that you find on page one of the presentation document as it applies throughout the conference call. This call is not being broadcast via webcast or any other medium. However, we will make a transcript available on our website after the call. I would now like to hand you over to our CEO for his opening remarks. Felix, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Christian. Let me also welcome you to our Q2 26 results presentation. And again, also from my side, from the board, apologies for the delay with our external provider. Thanks a lot for everybody who kept waiting. I will start now with an overview of the highlights of the quarter and then hand over to our CFO, Christian, for more details on our financial figures. Finally, I will give you an update on the development of our business and guidance. Let me start by giving you an update on the key business developments of the second quarter on slide two. The key messages are we've received strong new orders of 215 million, predominantly driven by OptoElectronics. Revenues came out at 115 million in line with our guidance for the quarter, reflecting the ongoing ramp of the photonics business and coming out of the trough in power electronics in Q1. We also generated a very strong cash flow. Operating cash flow reached $119 million and free cash flow came in at $114 million. This was predominantly driven by higher customer advance payments reflecting the strong order momentum and supporting the upcoming production run. Despite the soft start into the year, we are fully on track to achieve the full year guidance with revenues of $560 million plus minus 30. We had a soft Q1 with revenues of $59 million. We achieved 115 million in Q2. We plan to further increase output in Q3 to 180 plus minus 20. And we target a very strong Q4 with a further increase in output beyond the Q3 level. As you can see, we are ramping up our production with a steep ramp rate and significant increase of output every quarter of this year to serve the growing demand in optoelectronics. Finally, construction of our new site in Malaysia has started and is fully on track. Christian will now provide you a detailed look at our financials on the following pages before I take over again.

Christian. Thanks, Felix, and hello to you. Let me start with the highlights of our revenue development on slide four. Q2 revenues marked the next step in our planned production ramp, increasing 250 million euros from 59 million euros in Q1. This was fully in line with our quarterly guidance of 10 plus minus 10 million euros. Compared with the prior year quarter, revenues were 16% lower. For the first half, revenues amounted to 174 million euros. The revenue mix already shows the growing importance of Optor electronics. 54% of the equipment revenues came from Optor, 23% from LED and micro LED, 22% from GAN and SICK Power, and 2% from R&D Tools. Our after-sales business contributed €52 million and remained stable in absolute terms year over year. As a result, its share of group revenues increased to 30% from 21% a year ago. Now let's take a look at the financial KPIs of the income statement on slide 5. Gross profit in Q2 was €47 million, corresponding to a gross margin of 41%, unchanged from Q2 last year. This demonstrates a solid margin in performance as volumes began to recover. For the first half, gross profit was 58 million euros and gross margin was 33%, three percentage points below the prior year period. The H1 margin reflects the lower production volume, particularly in Q1. as well as a mid-single-digit Euro-million one-off expense related to the personal production in operations. Operating expenses in Q2 were stable year-over-year at €32 million. Higher R&D spending was offset mainly by increased R&D grants and significantly lower FX losses. The rise in R&D expenses primarily reflects higher depreciation in material costs As we continue to invest in our technology vote. For the first six months operating expenses were 65 million euros up 3% year over year. EBIT in Q2 was 15 million euros equivalent to an EBIT margin of 13%. This represents a clear turnaround from Q1 and reflects the higher revenue level and improved operating level. For the first half, EBIT was negative 8 million euros corresponding to an EBIT margin of negative 4%, mainly due to low Q1 volume and debt one-off expense already mentioned. Let me now turn to the key balance sheet and cash flow indicators on slide six. Working capital decreased by 184 million euros compared with the end of 2025. This was primarily driven by strong customer advance payments and the conversion of receivables from last year's fourth quarter revenues into cash. Trade receivables declined to 81 million euros at the end of June from 131 million euros at year end. Strong order momentum resulted in a substantial increase in customer advance The composition of current orders and individually agreed payment terms also provided a modest additional benefit. At the end of June, advance payments stood at 197 million euros, more than 150 million euros above year-end 2025. They represented around 43% of the equipment order backlog and provide meaningful funding for the upcoming production ramp. At the same time, inventories increased to €318 million from €284 million at the year end, mainly reflecting higher work in progress for shipments scheduled in the coming quarters. Trade payables rose to €49 million from €34 million as purchasing activity increased to support the ramp. Both developments are consistent with the planned increase in output in the second half. Overall, Operating cash flow reached 173 million in the first million euros in the first half, an increase of almost 90 million euros from 85 million euros in the prior year period. In Q2 alone, operating cash flow was 119 million euros. The key driver was the strong increase in customer advance payments, which supports the financing of the production line. Pre-cash flow was correspondingly strong at 160 in the first half compared with €74 million a year ago, including a loan-free cash flow amount of €240 million. CapEx in the first half was close to €11 million. For the full year, we expect CapEx of around €55 million, comprising our baseline investments and approximately two-thirds of the announced €40 million investment in the Malaysia expansion. The process to sell our site in Italy is ongoing. Our liquidity, comprising cash, cash equivalents and other current financial assets, increased to 816 million euros as of June 30th, 2026. After deducting the liability component of the convertible bond, net financial assets amounted to 460 million euros compared with 222 million euros at the end of 2025. Our equity ratio remains strong at 61%, despite the increase in total assets following the bond issue. With that, let me hand you back over to Felix.