Trumpf hopeful of a recovery as orders tick up

Trumpf says it has reversed three successive years of declining order intake, and is now hopeful of a recovery despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

In preliminary figures for its latest financial year, which ended a month ago, the Germany-headquartered industrial laser and machine tool vendor reported sales of €4.34 billion - almost exactly the same figure it posted for the prior year.

However, the Ditzingen firm also recorded an order intake of €4.5 billion, up from €4.2 billion a year ago and better than CEO Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller and her colleagues had been expecting.

“The increase in order intake makes us optimistic about the current fiscal year, in which we expect further growth,” she added. “While we must remain cautious, the developments of the past few months give us reason to believe that we’ve reached a slight economic turnaround in our business.”

Rapid US sales growth

Leibinger-Kammüller noted that despite the challenges presented by geopolitical conditions, Trumpf managed to show growth across all business segments.

“This included the machine tool and laser businesses as well as electronics and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) [lithography tools] in collaboration with our partner ASML, which saw noticeable growth thanks to the significantly increased demand for semiconductors,” she said.

Trumpf is the key supplier of high-power carbon dioxide lasers that are deployed by ASML inside state-of-the-art lithography tools to produce EUV light when fired at a stream of molten tin droplets.

The CEO also noted that the US represented Trumpf’s strongest single market in the latest accounting period, with sales rising 16 per cent to €760 million and overtaking Germany for the first time in several years.

“[This] demonstrates the growth momentum in many markets worldwide,” she said. “In addition, we have made significant progress in key development projects such as laser-based drone defense.”

That said, sales to the home market of Germany dropped 6 per cent year-on-year to €660 million, with revenues from China also down 7 per cent to €450 million.

The slowdown has been reflected in Trumpf’s headcount, with the company now employing 16,960 people, down from 17,750 a year ago and the figure of 18,550 reported in July 2024.

Trumpf is due to report its full results, including profitability and a more detailed breakdown of its laser division’s performance, on October 15.