1. Q1 fiscal 2009
With the global economy experiencing a profound crisis, business development at EPCOS deteriorated increasingly in the first quarter of fiscal 2009 (October 1 to December 31, 2008). EPCOS’ customers reduced their production not only in response to weak demand, but also to run down inventories. Orders placed with EPCOS were thus delayed and canceled on a large scale.
As a result, sales declined to EUR 282 million, a double-digit percentage drop both year on year and sequentially. All industries served were affected. Mainly due to the significantly lower business volume, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to minus EUR 19 million.
2. Sales
2.1. Comparison with Q4 2008
| EUR million | Q4 2008 | ± | Q1 2009 |
| Sales | 382 | –26% | 282 |
Business development at EPCOS was hardest hit by the drop in sales in the automotive industry in Q1 2009.
Compared to the previous quarter, sales of products for automotive electronics applications dropped by about 45 percent. Sales to distributors were down by more than 30 percent, while sales both to manufacturers in the information and telecommunications industry and to the consumer electronics segment fell by about 20 percent. The fallout from the global economic crisis has now also hit EPCOS’ business with products for industrial electronics, for which sales were down 15 percent sequentially.
Regionally, the decline in demand was most pronounced in Germany, where sales fell by nearly 40 percent sequentially. Sales in other European countries were down 30 percent. In both Asia and the NAFTA region, sales declined by around 10 percent.
Sales by business segments
| EUR million | Q4 2008 | ± | Q1 2009 |
| Capacitors and Inductors | 156 | –15% | 132 |
| Ceramic Components | 119 | –42% | 69 |
| SAW Components | 107 | –25% | 81 |
In Q1 2009, all of EPCOS’ business segments experienced a double-digit sequential drop in sales.
Sales at Capacitors and Inductors were down 15 percent to EUR 132 million. At SAW Components, sales fell by 25 percent to EUR 81 million. The sharpest decline was at Ceramic Components, where sales fell 42 percent to EUR 69 million. The drop in this segment exceeded that of the other segments because it has the highest proportion of sales of products for the automotive electronics industry.
