VEJLE, DENMARK – Electronics manufacturer GPV reported record first quarter revenue of more than DKK 1 billion (US$143 million), up 36.2% year-over-year.

Growth is attributed to increased demand and rising prices due to increased costs of materials and freight.

“GPV has had its best first quarter ever, and a lot of things are going our way,” said CEO Bo Lybæk. “At the same time, we continue to be in a particularly complex situation where, on the one hand, we see increased demand, while on the other, we continue to see a challenging material supply situation that has been further disrupted indirectly by the war in Ukraine and directly by the coronavirus lockdowns in China. So far, we are very pleased with the record-high turnover and our strong order book, and of course we are monitoring the situation closely.”

EBITDA in the first quarter was DKK 91 million, an increase of 19.7% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Earnings were positively affected by increased sales to a wide range of customers, good cost control and high-capacity utilization at the company’s production units.

Going forward, customers are divided into six segments, consisting of the previous CleanTech, MedTech and Transportation, as well as a tripartite segment of the Instruments and Industries segment into Industrials, Measurement and Control, and HighTech Consumer, respectively.

“We are seeing significant growth across all our segments, and with the new strategy, we are further professionalizing our market approach. Our customers demand partners who are professional and dedicated in more specialized areas. This is what our new strategy is all about, and you might actually say we are aiming for excellent performance with a strong sustainability profile.

“We have launched a number of measures to help our employees in Sri Lanka. Among other things, we have established a system of monthly food packages to support the individual employees and their basic family well-being. The country and its people are in a very tragic situation, and we are trying to help as best we can.”

GPV cut the first sod for its factory in Sri Lanka in October, with an increase in production capacity of 40%. This work is proceeding according to plan, and at the same time, GPV has started the construction of a new mechanics factory in Thailand, with an expansion of the electronics facilities to follow. The new factories are expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2023. GPV has also invested in new production capacity and optimized its production units in Thailand, Switzerland and Slovakia.

“As a global company, we have, to some degree, been in a state of alert since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis in early 2020. Throughout the period, we have had biweekly communications with our customers to ensure transparency, and since autumn 2020, our main focus has been on the supply chain situation. In 2021, we probably had a head start over many of our competitors with regard to the supply chain, but we are also deeply concerned about the developments. So far, the materials situation remains very challenging, and the logistics challenges, which would otherwise have diminished, have now worsened again due to the lockdowns in China and the situation in Russia and Ukraine. Visibility is thus still low.”

The company’s revenue forecast is raised to the level of DKK 3.5-3.7 billion from DKK 3.2-3.4 billion previously, while earnings are expected in the range of DKK 310-350 million against DKK 300-340 million previously. A significant part of the increase in revenue is related to increased prices of materials.

Ed.: DKK 1 = US$0.14