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Zurich, August 17, 2021 – Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
Gurit (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) today reports unaudited sales results for the first half of 2021. Net sales for this period were CHF 258.6 million which is a decline of –8.5% at constant exchange rates or -8.0% in reported CHF versus prior year.
As expected, net sales in the first half year were impacted by a temporarily reduced demand for wind blades in China in 2021 as a result of the expiry of the Chinese wind feed-in tariffs by year-end 2020, and by an accelerating decrease in balsa demand and price. The Marine and Industrial markets have rebounded strongly to pre-COVID-19 levels and Aerospace has stabilized at low levels.
Composite Materials achieved net sales of CHF 118.2 million for the first half of 2021. This represents a decrease of -12.9% at constant exchange rates compared to the first half of 2020. The decrease is mainly due to lower Wind demand in China and globally reduced volumes and prices in balsa while Marine and Industrial markets are back to pre-pandemic levels. While the company believes the slowdown in China is temporary, it also assumes that the trend to replace balsa by PET is permanent and adjusts its balsa operations accordingly.
Kitting recorded net sales of CHF 95.2 million for the first half of 2021. This is a decrease of -13.7% at constant exchange rates compared to the first half of the prior year. Kitting net sales were also negatively impacted compared to prior year due to the slowdown in China as well as lower material pricing. In order to fully capitalize on its co-location synergies, Gurit is on track to relocate its entire Kitting operation from the U.S. to Mexico.
Tooling saw an increase in first half of 2021 net sales by 19.6% at constant exchange rates compared to the first half of 2020 to CHF 55.4 million. The strong growth is mainly due to the timing of orders of western wind turbine OEMs and blade manufacturers in the first quarter of this year, while for the second half-year the company anticipates a weakening of the tooling market in general and particularly in China.
Aerospace net sales in the first half of 2021 amounted to CHF 14.2 million; this corresponds to a decline by -23.7% at constant exchange rates compared to the first half of 2020. While the Business Unit faced a sharp decline compared to prior year’s pre-COVID-19 levels in the first quarter, sales have stabilized at low levels, necessary cost adjustments have been executed and the Business Unit sees a sales increase of 6.0% compared to the second half of 2020.
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