Company Announcements

21 January 2025

 

 

XP Power Limited

(`XP Power' or `the Group')

 

Q4 and Full Year 2024 Trading Update

Performing well in challenging end markets, improved cash generation

 

XP Power, one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of critical power control components to the electronics industry, is today issuing a trading update for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 December 2024.

 

Trading

 

                  2024  2023  Change Change in constant currency

Q4

Order intake (£m) 44.9  48.4  (7)%   (2)%

Revenue (£m)      60.0  81.1  (26)%  (22)%

Book-to-bill      0.75x 0.60x 0.15x

Full Year

Order intake (£m) 181.6 208.8 (13)%  (10)%

Revenue (£m)      247.3 316.4 (22)%  (20)%

Book-to-bill      0.73x 0.66x 0.07x

 

 

                                           Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4
Quarterly performance
                                           2024  2024  2024  2024

Order intake (£m)                          43.7  44.2  48.8  44.9

% change vs prior year - constant currency (27)% (17)% 11%   (2)%

Revenue (£m)                               64.6  62.5  60.2  60.0

% change vs prior year - constant currency (15)% (22)% (19)% (22)%

Book-to-bill                               0.68x 0.70x 0.81x 0.75x

 

Q4 revenue was similar to Q3 at £60.0m. Reported revenue continued to face a headwind from currency movements in Q4, but this has since begun to dissipate in early 2025. Sales into the Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment sector in Q4 grew by 13% sequentially. Destocking continued in the Industrial Technology and Healthcare sectors, but with improving trends in order intake. In recent months we saw generally slower than expected demand from Asia, reflecting regional macro-economic conditions and some market hesitancy until global trade policies become clearer. Full year revenue of £247.3m was 20% lower than the prior year in constant currency.

 

Q4 order intake was £44.9m. Aggregate order intake from the Industrial Technology and Healthcare sectors grew sequentially with channel inventory moving closer to equilibrium. Order intake from the Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment sector did not match a particularly strong Q3, with demand for High Voltage High Power products beginning to normalise after a strong period. Conditions are generally improving in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment sector, particularly within our US customer base.

 

Our order book at the end of the year was £122.3m.

 

Financial Position

 

Operating cash generation remained strong throughout the second half, aided by tight control of working capital. Net debt at 31 December 2024 was £93.5m, £5.2m lower than at 30 September 2024 and compares to £112.7m at the end of 2023.

 

We estimate that Net Debt : Adjusted EBITDA at 31 December 2024 will be c.2.3x.

 

Outlook

 

The Group's Adjusted Operating Profit for 2024 is expected to be within the range of current analyst expectations*.

 

The Board is encouraged by signs that channel inventory is moving closer to equilibrium and by improving underlying conditions in the semiconductor industry but is also mindful of increased macro and geo-political headwinds in Asia. Whilst it is too soon to be definitive about prospects for 2025, these trends suggest our performance is likely to be weighted toward the second half.

 

The Board remains confident in the Group's long-term prospects. XP Power has leading positions in attractive end markets, has a strong pipeline of new product launches scheduled for 2025 and is winning record amounts of new business, supporting medium-term growth. This should deliver significant performance improvement when markets recover.

 

* Analyst expectations for Adjusted Operating Profit for the year ended 31 December 2024 are in the range of £25.1m to £27.6m

 

Enquiries:

 

        XP Power
        Gavin Griggs, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)118 984 5515

Matt Webb, Chief Financial Officer    +44 (0)118 984 5515

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Kevin Smith/Lucy Gibbs                +44 (0)207 638 9571

 

XP Power designs and manufactures power controllers, the essential hardware component in every piece of electrical equipment that converts power from the electricity grid into the right form for equipment to function. Power controllers are critical for optimal delivery in challenging environments but are a small part of the overall customer product cost.

 

XP Power typically designs power control solutions into the end products of major blue-chip OEMs, with a focus on Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment (circa 38% of revenue in 2024), Healthcare (circa 24% revenue in 2024) and Industrial Technology (circa 38% of revenue in 2024) sectors. Once designed into a programme, XP Power has a revenue annuity over the life cycle of the customer's product which is typically five to seven years depending on the industry sector. XP Power has invested in research and development and its own manufacturing facilities in China, North America, and Vietnam, to develop a range of tailored products based on its own intellectual property that provide its customers with significantly improved functionality and efficiency.

 

Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 2000, XP Power is a constituent of the FTSE All Share Index. XP Power serves a global blue-chip customer base from over 30 locations in Europe, North America, and Asia.

 

For further information, please visit www.xppowerplc.com .