EQS-News: u-blox updates guidance for FY 2018, and provides guidance for FY 2019

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EQS Group-News: u-blox AG / Key word(s): Forecast 
u-blox updates guidance for FY 2018, and provides guidance for FY 2019 
 
2018-11-21 / 07:00 
 
*u-blox updates guidance for FY 2018, and provides guidance for FY 2019* 
 
*Thalwil, Switzerland - November 21, 2018 -* u-blox (SIX:UBXN), a global 
provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies , 
today announced that it has revised its guidance figures for 2018 with 
expected revenues of between CHF 400 and 410 million, with EBIT in the range 
of CHF 47 to 52 million, and EBITDA between CHF 70 to 75 million. 
 
In Asia, a slowdown in timing and shared devices as well as customers being 
impacted temporarily by the Sino-US trade tensions will result in lower 
revenues for 2018 than anticipated. Moving forward, however, u-blox is 
seeing a reversed trend in the second half year of 2018 with stronger 
progress in infrastructure, in-car navigation, and after-market car 
electronics. Furthermore u-blox has optimized its management structure in 
China and re-focused the sales team to cope with emerging application 
sectors. 
 
In contrast to the turnaround situation in China, other regions continue to 
perform well. The Americas will profit from the deployments for LTE-M based 
cellular connectivity that already accelerated business in H2 2018, and we 
expect strong business in metering, medical devices, wearables, and renewed 
growth in the fleet management business. 
 
In the EMEA region, the very strong growth in H1 2018 is continuing into 
2019, driven by an expanded demand for connected devices destined for the 
Internet of Things in infrastructure and telematics, as well as an 
increasing demand from the automotive sector, stimulated by the need for 
in-vehicle connectivity. 
 
Globally, for 2019 u-blox expects stronger growth, supported by significant 
client wins such as Bosch, Leica Geosystems, and Xirgo Technologies, and 
major megatrends are driving sustainable demand. For instance, the company 
sees mobility, urbanization, new health, and industry 4.0 accelerating the 
expansion of the Internet of Things as well as the need for seamless and 
secure lifetime connectivity from a trusted supplier. Also, progress in 
automated driving is increasing demand for safe and reliable connectivity 
and positioning technologies. 
 
Our guidance for 2018 and 2019 is captured in the following table: 
 
            *Actual* *Updated Guidance 2018* *Guidance 2019* 
           *FY 2017*                  (IFRS)          (IFRS) 
 *Revenue*    403.7m               400m.410m       460m.490m 
  *EBITDA*     87.4m                 70m.75m         70m.90m 
    *EBIT*     65.1m                47m. 52m        30m. 45m 
*Currency*       CHF                     CHF             CHF 
 
Exchange rate assumptions for 2019: EUR/CHF: 1.12, USD/CHF: 0.99, GBP/CHF: 
1.27 
 
Table 1: Guidance 2018 and 2019 
 
For the mid-term, u-blox expects a significant expansion based on product 
initiatives preempting important megatrends in the industry. u-blox has 
invested in new platforms in all its technologies and will participate in 
market expansion driven by increasing mobility and expansion of cloud 
services. For 2022, u-blox sets the goal to achieve revenues between CHF 700 
million and CHF 800 million, with free cash flow resulting in 7% to 10%, 
EBIT in 12% to 15%, and EBITDA in 22% to 25% of revenue. 
 
*Revenue M CHF* *Free Cash Flow %* *EBIT %* *EBITDA %* 
      700               7%           12%       22% 
      800              10%           15%       25% 
 
Table 2: Mid-term outlook 2022 
 
Thomas Seiler, CEO of u-blox, commented: "We are seeing good return of 
growth in Asia. In recent months, we have been able to win major large 
companies as customers in all regions. They will have a positive impact on 
our business for years to come. In addition, we expect all regions to 
continually grow as a result of strong and broad-based measures to seek and 
create new sales opportunities, as our strategy continues to be profitably 
aligned with the world's significant megatrends. We are positive that we 
will continue to see a robust and growing business supporting our new 
guidance and our mid-term outlook with improving profitability." 
 
*About u-blox* 
 
u-blox (SIX:UBXN) is a global provider of leading positioning and wireless 
communication technologies for the automotive, industrial, and consumer 
markets. Their solutions let people, vehicles, and machines determine their 
precise position and communicate wirelessly over cellular and short range 
networks. With a broad portfolio of chips, modules, and a growing ecosystem 
of products supporting data services, u-blox is uniquely positioned to 
empower its customers to develop innovative solutions for the Internet of 
Things, quickly and cost-effectively. With headquarters in Thalwil, 
Switzerland, the company is globally present with offices in Europe, Asia, 
and the USA. 
 
Find us on Facebook [1], Google+ [2], LinkedIn [3], Twitter @ublox [4] and 
YouTube [5] 
 
*Financial calendar* 
Analyst day: November 21, 2018 
2018 full year results: March 15, 2019 
Annual general meeting: April 25, 2019 
 
*u-blox contact:* 
Gitte Jensen 
Investor Relations 
Phone [phone] 
[e-mail] 
 
*u-blox AG* 
Zürcherstrasse 68 
8800 Thalwil 
Switzerland 
Phone [phone] 
Fax [phone] 
[e-mail] 
www.u-blox.com [6] 
 
*Disclaimer* 
This release contains certain forward-looking statements. Such 
forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management and are 
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may 
cause actual results, performance or achievements of the u-blox Group to 
differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include risks 
related to the success of and demand for the Group's products, the potential 
for the Group's products to become obsolete, the Group's ability to defend 
its intellectual property, the Group's ability to develop and commercialize 
new products in a timely manner, the dynamic and competitive environment in 
which the Group operates, the regulatory environment, changes in currency 
exchange rates, the Group's ability to generate revenues and profitability, 
and the Group's ability to realize its expansion projects in a timely 
manner. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or 
should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary 
materially from those described in this report. u-blox is providing the 
information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any 
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in it as a 
result of new information, future events or otherwise. 
 
End of Corporate News 
Language: English 
Company:  u-blox AG 
          Zürcherstrasse 68 
          8800 Thalwil 
          Switzerland 
Phone:    [phone] 
Fax:      [phone] 
E-mail:   [e-mail] 
Internet: www.u-blox.com 
ISIN:     CH0033361673 
Listed:   SIX Swiss Exchange 
 
End of News EQS Group News Service 
 
749183 2018-11-21 
 
 
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2018 01:00 ET (06:00 GMT)