Dear shareholders,

The focus on the strategic applications of medical technology, industrial electronics and aerospace & defence proved beneficial, as the decline in sales was significantly less pronounced in these markets: Sales in the automotive & transportation, watches & consumer, communications and other sectors declined by 24.6 %, whereas the strategic sectors performed better with a decrease of 12.8 %, thus further increasing their share of Group sales to 80.7 % (2019: 78.3 %) in line with the strategy. In particular, demand from the medical technology sector remained stable compared to the previous year despite a pandemic-related slump in sales to hearing-aid customers.

The regional distribution of sales was influenced by the ordering behavior of individual customers compared with the previous year and was mostly unchanged. The home market of Switzerland and the rest of Europe continue to be the most important regions, accounting for 77 % of total sales (2019: 75 %). The share of sales in North America declined to 6 % (2019: 7 %) due to the weak US dollar. Sales in Asia, with a 17 % share of sales (2019: 18 %), are largely with European and North American customers whose Asian production plants are supplied locally.

The printed circuit board (PCB), thin-film substrate and microelectronics businesses were affected by the Corona pandemic in very different ways. A large part of the PCB customers reduced their demand drastically at times during the year under review, mostly from the hearing-aid sector, the watch business and the automotive market. Demand recovered markedly towards year-end, partly due to catch-up effects.

Business development in thin-film substrates, which generate the highest sales in the medical technology and aerospace & defence segments, was quite different. These markets were not affected by the pandemic, which together with further operational improvements led to a highly satisfactory result. Cicor’s microelectronic assembly was affected on the one hand by a decline in demand from the aerospace business, and on the other hand by pandemic-related additional demand in medical technology.

Overall, the division’s sales decreased by 14.4 % to CHF 52.5 million (2019: CHF 61.3 million). The EBITDA margin declined to a still robust 14.0 % (2019: 16.9 %) due to the overall lower production utilization of the division. Due to the high asset intensity and the associated depreciation of plant and machinery, the EBIT decline was disproportionate. CHF 2.8 million were achieved (2019: CHF 6.2 million), corresponding to a margin of 5.3 % (2019: 10.1 %).

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, further operational improvements were achieved, important investment projects were pursued and innovations were driven forward. The remedy of short-time working helped to completely avoid staff reductions at the division’s sites in Switzerland and Germany. This means that Cicor is ready for the upswing that began in the fourth quarter.

The globally operating division suffered at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic from the closure of the Suzhou site during the hard lockdown in China. In the second quarter, plant closures by suppliers and customers in Italy led to a marked decline in demand. Despite the restrictions, we succeeded in meeting customer requirements at all times.

These restrictions in production contrasted with a very high level of new project activity. The departments involved were working at full capacity throughout the year and were able to perform very well even with a high proportion of work being done in the home office.

The division’s sales reached CHF 163.1 million in the year under review, a decline of 15.4 % from the previous year’s sales of CHF 192.7 million. The relocation of production from Singapore to the newly created center of excellence for precision plastic injection molding in Batam (Indonesia) was completed in the year under review. Likewise, series deliveries from the new painting line for medical plastic parts commenced following successful qualification. The organizational structures in Asia were significantly simplified by the elimination of one management level, further promoting the integration of the Asian units into the division’s global organization.

The sum of the measures implemented enabled an increase in operating profitability at EBITDA level to 8.4 % (2019: 8.1 %) despite the significant decline in sales. At EBIT level, the result was CHF 7.7 million (2019: CHF 10.0 million), corresponding to a margin of 4.7 % after 5.2 % in the previous year.

With a full project pipeline, operational improvements in Asia, and available production capacities in Romania and in Asia, the ES Division is excellently positioned for the future.

Since the more direct organizational and management structure was introduced in September 2016, cooperation within the Cicor Group and between the divisions has been significantly intensified, which has also led to greater customer focus. This has created a unique service offering that is rewarded by customers and has thus contributed significantly to the market share gains of recent years as well as the strongly growing project pipeline. Around 20 % of Cicor’s Group sales are now generated with customers who purchase services from both divisions or whose products pass through both divisions during the manufacturing process.

This uniqueness is coupled with high technological competence, as evidenced by more than 150 internal engineers worldwide. As a technology leader, Cicor can solve highly complex tasks and thus win attractive new business in strategic target markets. Due to the project duration of two years on average until the start of series production, these successes are now becoming visible for the first time.

One example of novel technologies is Cicor’s activity in the field of electronic printing. Since the establishment of the Aerosol Jet Printing laboratory in 2019, valuable fundamental work was done, which has now led to interesting series development projects. Due to the novelty of the processes, it will still take arround two years before significant series sales can be expected.

Measures to safeguard liquidity were already initiated in the first quarter of 2020 and thus at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, customer receivables were reduced disproportionately and no bad debts were recorded. Overall, net working capital fell further to CHF 58.0 million at the end of the reporting year (31.12.2019: CHF 59.0 million). Net debt was reduced again to CHF 13.6 million (31.12.2019: CHF 16.7 million). As a result, the net debt/EBITDA ratio (0,7 times) remained mostly unchanged compared to the previous year. The equity ratio decreased slightly to 41.9 % (31.12.2019: 42.6 %) and free cash flow was again clearly positive after an excellent previous year. It reached very satisfactory CHF 7.2 million (2019: CHF 13.7 million).

Based on the robust results in the 2020 financial year, the low level of debt, the satisfactory free cash flow and the positive future business outlook, Cicor shareholders are to participate in the success as in previous years via withholding tax-free dividends from capital contribution reserves. The Board of Directors will therefore propose to the Annual General Meeting on 15 April 2021, a distribution from the capital contribution reserve of CHF 1.00 per share (2019: CHF 1.50 per share) for the financial year 2020, which corresponds to a payout ratio of approximately 70 percent of the Group's net income.

Cicor has coped well with the second wave of the pandemic with only minimal business disruptions and robust customer demand. However, the further course of the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain. A renewed shortage of certain raw materials and components is seen as a further risk, leading to delivery time extensions.

Based on the positive development of order intake as well as the well-filled pipeline of new projects, Cicor is cautiously optimistic for the new fiscal year 2021. Sales are expected to increase compared to the reporting year and the results of the operational improvements will be reflected in an increased operating margin.

The medium-term targets of an operating margin at EBIT level of 6 to 8 % remain unchanged due to the overall positive outlook, and Cicor should be able to reach the positive results of the previous two years by 2022 at the latest.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board of Cicor Group, we would like to thank everyone who made their valuable contribution to the successes of the 2020 financial year: our employees for their great commitment, our customers for their loyalty and our shareholders and business partners for their trust.