In the first quarter of the year, Aspocomp took steps toward future growth and profitability. Although financial development weakened against the exceptionally strong comparison period, we are pleased with the strong development of our order book and increased demand in our customer segments. The equipment supplier’s spare parts delivery challenges weakened production throughput and strained the supply chain during the review period. We are currently investing heavily in production quality and delivery reliability.
Net sales decreased by 6% in in the first quarter to EUR 9.7 (10.3) million. The decline in net sales was primarily due to the bankruptcy of one of our equipment manufacturers last year, which caused challenges in spare parts deliveries and slowed down the company’s delivery capability. The operating result decreased accordingly to EUR 0.2 million (EUR 0.8 million), corresponding to an operating margin of 2.2% (8.0%). Profitability was burdened, as in previous quarters, by low-margin orders agreed upon in 2024, deliveries of which will continue into the second quarter of 2026. In addition, the result for the review period was burdened by a EUR 80 thousand write-down on an investment made in 2020 in a company, that failed in commercialization of new PCB technology.
We are very pleased with the growth in orders received. During the review period, orders received amounted to EUR 12.2 million, which is 7% more than in the same period last year (EUR 11.4 million). Our record-high order book at the end of the review period was EUR 23.5 million, which is 12% higher than in the comparison period. Part of this order book extends as far as late 2027, which gives the company greater visibility into the future.
Demand has remained strong, particularly in the defense and semiconductor industry sectors. During the review period, 43% of orders received came from the semiconductor industry and 30% from the defense industry, indicating the importance of these strategic focus areas as drivers of future growth.
The investment program at the Oulu plant is progressing as planned. The expansion of the plant building has been completed on schedule and within budget, and during the second quarter, the warehouse will move to the new premises and the first new production equipment will arrive at the factory. The new capacity is scheduled to be commissioned in phases throughout 2027.
During the review period, we invested in equipment maintenance and resourcing, which has had a positive impact: the number of defects in production has clearly decreased. The risk of equipment failures has decreased but remains a challenge in our operational activities. We will continue to improve production quality, which directly affects our capacity, profitability, and delivery reliability.
The second quarter will involve the annual maintenance of a critical production process and preparations for installing new equipment. We expect these measures to cause only minor disruptions to production. We are also actively preparing for 2027 volume growth and year-end equipment installations to ensure future growth. We strongly believe that our strategic investments, the sustained and even increased demand from our customer segments, and our efforts to improve production reliability will create a foundation for sustainable growth and profitability in the future. I thank all our personnel for their commitment and our customers for their trust.
Espoo, April 29, 2026
Manu Skyttä