2023 INTERIM REPORT as at 30 June 2023

Content

Foreword by the Executive Board
Viscom's shares
Interim Group management report
Basic information on the Group
Business model of the Group

Economic report

Macroeconomic and sector development

Summary analysis of the company's net assets, financial position and results of operations and course of business

Results of operations
13 Regional developments
14 Financial position
15 Net assets 16 Key figures on the Group's net assets, financial position and results of operations

Supplementary report

Report on risks and opportunities

Report on future developments in 2023

Economic conditions

Other disclosures

IFRS interim consolidated financial statements

20 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
21 Consolidated statement of financial position: assets
22 Consolidated statement of financial position: equity and liabilities
23 Consolidated statement of cash flows
24 Statement of changes in equity

Selected notes

Notes to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income
Responsibility statement
Financial calendar 2023
Viscom structure

Operating figures

Profit and loss

		6M 2023	6M 2022
Revenues	K€	49,439	44,839
EBIT	K€	236	1,003
Net profit for the period	K€	-395	596

Balance sheet and cashflow statement figures

		6M 2023	6M 2022

Total assets	K€	117,593	104,476
Equity ratio	%	48.3	53.5
Cash flow from operating activities	K€	5,029	-556
Cash flow from investing activities	K€	-2,039	-2,170
Cash flow from financing activities	K€	-5,002	-2,996
Cash and cash equivalents	K€	-19,949	-11,712

		6M 2023	6M 2022
Result per share	€	-0.03	0.07

Employees

	6M 2023	6M 2022
Employees on 30 June 583		532

VISCOM. Vision Technology.

Founded:

1984 by Dr. Martin Heuser and Volker Pape

Number of employees worldwide: 583

World Market Leader:

Viscom is the No. 1 solution provider for automatic optical inspection in the automobile industry.

Headquarters and production:

"Made in Germany": Hanover, Germany

Subsidiaries:

Viscom France S.A.R.L., Paris, France Viscom Tunisie S.A.R.L., Tunis, Tunisia Viscom Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, USA Viscom Machine Vision Pte Ltd., Singapore Viscom Machine Vision Trading Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China VICN Automated Inspection Technology (Huizhou), Huizhou, China Co., Ltd VISCOM MACHINE VISION (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED, Bangalore, India Viscom Metallgestaltung GmbH, Langenhagen/ Hanover, Germany Exacom GmbH, Hanover, Germany VISCOM VXS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., Zapopan/ Guadalajara, Mexico

Foreword by the Executive Board

Viscom AG's positive business performance continued in the first half of 2023, following on from the very good performance of the previous year. Demand for our inspection systems and services remains very high. Business activity led to our highest incoming orders in a single half-year period since the company was founded, an increase of around 16 % year-on-year to € 63.3 million (previous year: € 54.7 million). At € 49.4 million, revenue in the first half of 2023 was around 10 % higher than the previous year's figure (€ 44.8 million). Revenue recognition continued to be hampered by ongoing material shortages. In the first half of 2023, this affected, among other things, specialised parts for optics and the machine drives. EBIT was held back in particular by the increased material costs and other operating expenses and declined year-on-year to € 0.2 million in the first half of 2023 (previous year: € 1.0 million). The EBIT-Margin was 0.5 % (previous year: 2.2 %).

This sharp rise in incoming orders was driven by high demand in Europe, especially from our major customers. Our subsidiary Exacom GmbH also received a major order in the first half of 2023 to supply X-ray inspection systems to a cus-tomer in the battery cell production sector. The order has a total volume of around € 5 million and will affect revenue in this financial year. In July, we were pleased to report another major order of € 4.9 million, which will largely affect revenue in the 2024 financial year. This is the successful outcome of our strategy of unlocking special revenue potential in the inspection of energy storage products – i.e., in the inspection of battery cells.

After 35 years at Viscom, Peter Krippner, Chief Operations Officer, stepped back from the operating business at Viscom AG on 31 May 2023 for personal reasons. Mr. Krippner will continue to be associated with Viscom AG in an advisory capacity. Since 1 June 2023, the Viscom Executive Board has consisted of three members: Carsten Salewski (Sales/Operations), Dr. Martin Heuser (Development/Production), and Dirk Schwingel (Finance).

With the Supervisory Board's approval, we have resolved to prepare to convert the company into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) while preserving its legal identity. The change of legal form from a German stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) into a European Company makes Viscom AG's selfimage as a European and global company part of its external identity, as well. The supranational legal form fosters an open and international corporate culture. This will allow employees – especially those from abroad – to identify more strongly with the Viscom Group. The Societas Europaea is also an attractive legal form for international contract partners and for the acquisition of qualified staff. Finally, the legal form of the European Company offers the opportunity to maintain and enhance Viscom AG's corporate governance structure in the tried and tested two-tier management system. The responsibilities and composition of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board are thus unaffected by the new structure. The registered office and headquarters of the company will remain in Hanover. The company will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on 24 November 2023 to approve the change in legal form. For the conversion to the SE legal form to take effect, the procedure for an agreement concerning employee involvement in the future Viscom SE must be either completed or terminated. As a result of the SE conversion, the legal position of the shareholders of Viscom AG remains fundamentally unaffected. They will hold the same number of no-par value shares in Viscom SE as they did immediately before the change of legal form. The stock exchange listing of Viscom shares on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will also remain unaffected by the change of legal form.

Left to right: Dr. Martin Heuser, Carsten Salewski, Dirk Schwingel

We are confident that we will achieve our objectives for the current financial year thanks to our sustainable and marketoriented business policy and the great dedication of our employees. We continue to forecast incoming orders and revenue of between € 110 million and € 120 million in the 2023 financial year, with the EBIT-Margin coming in at between 5 % and 10 %. This corresponds to EBIT of between € 5.5 million and € 12.0 million.

Thank you for your confidence in us.

The Executive Board

Carsten Salewski Dr. Martin Heuser Dirk Schwingel

Viscom's shares

Basic information on the shares

German Securities Code Number (WKN)	784686
ISIN	DE 000 7846867
Ticker symbol	V6C
Market segment	Regulated market (Prime Standard)
Type of shares	No-par value bearer shares
Share capital (€)	9,020,000
Share capital (units)	9,020,000
Number of voting shares	8,885,060

Opening price on 2 January 2023	8.80 €
Closing price on 30 June 2023 *	9.20 €
Percentage change	+ 4.8 %
High on 26 April 2023 *	10.90 €
Low on 9 January 2023 *	8.66 €
Market capitalisation as at 30 June 2023	82,984,000 €

* All share price information is based on XETRA daily closing prices

Share price performance

in the reporting period 1 Jan. – 30 June 2023

Viscom's shares began the current financial year at a price of € 8.80 on 2 January 2023 and reached their low for the year to date at € 8.66 on 9 January 2023. Falling inflation rates and the end of the zero-COVID policy in China alleviated fears of recession and increased economic optimism. European stock markets then saw a rapid price increase and thus a tremendous start to the 2023 stock market year. Persistently high inflation and central bank monetary policy were the decisive issues and led to a consolidation of market barometers over the course of the first quarter of 2023. Recurring interest rate worries, concerns over demand and the fear of a new banking crisis put investor confidence to the test. However, after their weak performance in 2022, technology stocks were among the winners in the first quarter of 2023 with growth of around 14 %. In April 2023, the upward trend on the stock markets continued despite the concerns over inflation and recession. In this stock market environment, Viscom's shares reached their high for the year to date on 26 April 2023, closing at € 10.90. In May, the stock markets

Share price performance as against the DAX and TecDAX in the first six months of 2023

moved a long stretch sideways in a tight trading range because of a lack of incentive to buy. In June 2023, the positive sentiment on the stock markets was again unharmed by the repeatedly cited stress factors such as rising interest rates and a looming recession. After the dividend was distributed, Viscom's shares made a slight downward movement. The average price of Viscom's stock was € 9.75 in the first six months of 2023, closing at € 9.20 on 30 June 2023.

Shareholder structure

Viscom AG's shareholder structure is largely defined by the considerable investment held by its founders, Dr. Martin Heuser and Volker Pape. Dr. Heuser and Mr. Pape hold 59.99 % of the shares, either directly or through intermediary companies and foundations. Viscom AG itself holds 1.50 % of its own shares, which the company purchased under a share buyback programme in 2008/2009. 4.92 % of the shares are held by Allianz Retraite S.A. and a further 3.02 % by Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH. The 30.57 % of shares in free float are held primarily by investors in Germany and other European countries.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Viscom AG was held in person again at the Old Town Hall in Hanover on 31 May 2023. Of the company's registered share capital of € 9,020,000.00, divided into 9,020,000 no-par value shares, a total of 5,971,396 no-par value shares, equating to 66.20 % of the registered share capital, were represented during the voting process. All agenda items were approved by the required majority of shareholders and shareholder representatives. Among other things, the Annual General Meeting approved the distribution of a dividend of € 0.30 per dividend-bearing share.

The next Annual General Meeting of Viscom AG will take place on 29 May 2024. Further infor-mation can be found in the Company/Investor Relations/Annual General Meeting section of the website at www.viscom.com.

Investor Relations

The objective of our Investor Relations work is to enable all capital market participants to assess Viscom AG fairly. This is why we pursue a policy of continuous and transparent communication. Extensive information on Viscom's shares can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.viscom.com.

Pareto Securities AS and EQUI.TS GmbH regularly cover and comment on Viscom's shares. The shares had two "buy" recommendations as at 30 June 2023. The current ratings can be found in the Company/Investor Relations/Shares/Analyst Coverage section of the website at www.viscom.com.

The Investor Relations department can be contacted at the following address:

Viscom AG Investor Relations Sandra M. Liedtke Carl-Buderus-Strasse 9-15 30455 Hanover E: [email protected] T: +49 511 94996-791 F: +49 511 94996-555

Interim Group management report Basic information on the Group

Business model of the Group

Structure of the company and its investees

Viscom AG, Hanover (hereinafter: Viscom AG), is the parent company of the Viscom Group (hereinafter referred to as Viscom).

Viscom AG is registered in commercial register B of Hanover District Court under number HRB 59616.

With subsidiaries in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa that are directly or indirectly wholly owned by Viscom AG, the Group has an efficient, market-oriented organisational structure. Viscom AG directly holds 85 % of the shares in Exacom GmbH. All the companies focus on their respective customer groups and their requirements. This enables them to act and respond quickly and flexibly. They also benefit from the advantages of belonging to a larger group, thus enabling the mutual sharing and utilisation of knowledge and experience. Production takes place exclusively in the Group's home base of Hanover. This means that Viscom enjoys the production advantages of one of the most highly developed industrial locations, allowing it to guarantee a very high quality level for its products.

In 2001, Viscom GmbH changed its legal form to that of a German stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) and became Viscom AG. The company's share capital is divided into 9,020,000 shares. 59.99 % of the shares are held by the company's founders Dr. Martin Heuser and Volker Pape, either directly or through intermediary companies and foundations. 4.92 % of the shares are held by Allianz Retraite S.A. and 3.02 % by Universal-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH.

The Extraordinary General Meeting held on 20 August 2013 agreed to convert some of the committed capital reserves (€ 22,550 thousand) into free capital reserves (section 272(2) no. 4 of the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB – German Commercial Code)) by way of an increase in the company's share capital from corporate funds without issuing new shares and a subsequent reduction in capital. This was in accordance with the proposals by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board published in the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) on 10 July 2013.

On 29 July 2008, the Executive Board, with the approval of the Annual General Meeting on 12 June 2008 and following consultation with the Supervisory Board, resolved to acquire up to 902,000 of the company's shares by 31 March 2009. The company had bought back 134,940 shares as at 31 March 2009. As at 30 June 2023, Viscom AG held approximately 1.50 % of its own shares.

The Executive Board of Viscom AG consisted of three members as at 30 June 2023:

Carsten Salewski: Sales/Operations Dr. Martin Heuser: Development/Production Dirk Schwingel: Finance

The Executive Board is monitored by the three members of the Supervisory Board:

Prof. Dr. Michèle Morner (Chairwoman) Volker Pape (Deputy Chairman) Prof. Dr. Ludger Overmeyer

Segments and key locations

Viscom develops, manufactures and sells high-quality inspection systems for use in industrial production. The company's business activities are broken down on the basis of work required for the project-specific adaptation of standard components and systems, and the technology the inspection systems use to identify potential production errors.

The company's business is segmented geographically by sales regions; it serves the European market from its headquarters in Hanover which includes the Exacom GmbH, and a sales subsidiary in Paris, France, the sales market of the Americas from its sales subsidiary in Atlanta, USA, plus the service company in Mexico acquired in 2022, and the Asian market from its sales subsidiary in Singapore, which in turn has its own sales subsidiaries in Shanghai, China, Huizhou, China, and Bangalore, India. The sales company in Tunis, Tunisia, a subsidiary of the French subsidiary that cultivates and serves the North African sales market, is allocated to the geographical segment Europe.

In addition, Viscom AG operates a company for the manufacture of metal frames, Viscom Metallgestaltung GmbH, which works solely for Viscom AG.

There were no changes in the Group's activities or structure in the reporting period.

Business processes

The inspection systems are developed and produced at Viscom AG's headquarters in Hanover. All central functions, such as business administration, development, production, service and sales management, are based here.

The company's product development activities focus on fundamental development work for future generations of inspection systems and project-specific development to adapt basic types of machinery to meet customer-specific requirements.

A large part of production is order-based. It draws on in-house pre-production of various assemblies. This enables greater production safety, especially in view of precarious supply chains.

Sales activities are performed by Viscom AG's sales employees and customer care teams, its Group companies and agents acting on the market as industry representatives for mechanical engineering firms.

Operational availability is one of the most important aspects when using an inspection system. This requires regular maintenance, repair and calibration. Central service and the customer care teams assist Viscom's customers in that job. Fast reaction times are ensured thanks to the global presence of Viscom's service employees.

Major business processes are managed and supported with the help of the business software proALPHA. The order processing module included in this system is used by all Viscom locations around the world.

Legal and economic factors

In the first half of 2023, there were no fundamental changes in the legal and economic environment that substantially influenced Viscom's business. Please refer to the economic report below for more details on the development of the economy as a whole.

Management system

The key performance indicators by which the Viscom Group is essentially managed are incoming orders, revenue, EBIT (operating profit or segment earnings) and the EBIT-Margin (EBIT/ revenue).

The management of the Group is based on a reporting system that takes the form of reviews submitted monthly to management and the heads of the business areas. These monthly reports include the consolidated income statement and individual breakdowns for the various Group companies.

The reports also include a detailed presentation of the cost structure and key figures of Viscom AG and other companies of the Group. They provide information on revenue in the Group's systems installation regions, incoming orders, the order backlog, the number of employees, cash and cash equivalents, the utilisation of the overdraft facilities available, total receivables and receivables from subsidiaries, orders placed for the purchase of goods and inventories of goods and completed and partially completed systems.

In addition, they provide an overview of employee turnover, absence due to illness and revenue per capita, in addition to key indicators for project management, product development, production and logistics. The statements contained in the monthly reports are analysed in regular meetings between the Executive Board, all heads of business areas and the managing directors of the individual branches. Any need for action emerging results in decisions that are usually implemented in the short term.

Research and development

Development activities in the first half of 2023 mainly focused on the advancement of existing system solutions and the implementation of new market requirements in the field of optical and X-ray inspection processes. Viscom works continuously on developing new and improving existing products. In the first half of 2023, the focus with regard to systems technology was on developing the iS6059 family, which will expand the existing range of Viscom AOIs or replace existing special variants. Systems for inspection from below and for inspection in dual-track lines were completed.

In the case of software, the standard vVision software was presented at the 2023 SMT trade fair also for systems for manual X-ray inspection (MXI) and the inspection of bonding wires. Progress was also made in the project to accelerate the creation of inspection plans.

AI expertise at Viscom was systematically developed further in the first half of 2023. For some applications, the company managed to enable cross-customer use of pre-trained AI models. With increased use of AI, this saves a considerable amount of work for collecting image material and carrying out AI training.

vConnect, the platform for digital services at Viscom, was expanded further in the first half of 2023. One approach here is to use vConnect for statistical purposes, too. On the one hand the error rates keep falling, while on the other hand the demands on the quality of inspection results keep increasing to allow operating staff to be deployed as effectively as possible.

The improvements in performance data already achieved for the XM sensor systems were expanded to other variants of the XM-II sensor module family also. The focus here was on the sensor module for inspection from below.

In the case of battery cell inspection, the two existing iX7059 series variants for inspecting round and pouch cells were supplemented by a particularly rapid 3D inspection variant.

Expenditure for research and development, not including design changes for customer-specific adaptations, was higher than the previous year's figure. Development costs totalling € 1,565 thousand were capitalised in the first six months of 2023 (previous year: € 1,383 thousand). Capitalised development costs were written down in the amount of € 1,132 thousand (previous year: € 1,385 thousand).

Economic report

Macroeconomic and sector development

Macroeconomic development

The global economy is gradually recovering from the external shock of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to diminishing supply problems and largely undisrupted delivery channels. For some time now, economic development has instead been hampered by the war in Ukraine and the tensions between China and the US. The economic environment is therefore still characterised by geopolitical uncertainties and their economic ramifications. The generally slow pace of the global economy continues, restraining global trade. There are also uncertainties regarding the effects of increased inflation and more restrictive monetary policy on banks and the global financial markets.

Sector development

Revenue recognition at Viscom is focused on the manufacture of systems for the inspection of electronic assemblies. Viscom is therefore predominantly represented in the automotive supplier segment within the electronics industry, one of the largest branches of industry in the world. Technical developments in the electronics industry have been a key innovation driver for Viscom over the last few years. The volumes and quality requirements of increasingly complex and ever-smaller electronic assemblies are seeing constant growth. These assemblies can only be tested reliably using automated inspection systems. Hidden solder joints, miniaturised components and densely populated printed circuit boards must be inspected reliably and quickly. High resolution, reliable fault detection and high throughput are extremely important here. Viscom inspection systems are used where the requirements for precision and speed are particularly high. The main customers for Viscom products are the automotive electronics sector, manufacturers of consumer and industrial electronics, and service providers (EMS) that manufacture electronic assemblies to order for various sectors. Furthermore, Viscom systems are increasingly being used for the automated final optical or X-ray inspection of finished equipment. This includes complete assemblies from the electromobility sector, high-end mobile consumer equipment and in recent years also significantly more lithium-ion batteries in various designs.

In recent years, Viscom has intensified its efforts to gain a foothold in non-automotive industries such as battery production, telecommunication, industrial electronics and semiconductor production. It is focusing on growth industries in the electromobility and computers, communication and consumer (3C) sectors.

Mechanical engineering companies are facing a wide range of global challenges. While the war in Ukraine is affecting Europe in particular, material shortages and higher inflation are global issues.

Target sectors, target markets and target customers

The inspection systems manufactured by Viscom are employed primarily within the electronics industry. Producers of electronic components are the main customer segment, accounting for 75 % of revenue (previous year: 62 %). Some of these companies are involved in production for end consumers. However, the majority of Viscom's customers are suppliers that manufacture products such as electronic assemblies for other companies. These supplier parts are integrated into end products, for example motor controllers into vehicles. The remaining 25 % of revenue (previous year: 38 %) relates to manufacturers from other industries, such as consumer electronics and battery production.

With its optical, X-ray and combined inspection systems, Viscom is particularly well represented in production operations with the very highest quality requirements. Accordingly, its main customers are companies who make product safety a top priority. The automotive electronics sector accounts for a particularly high volume of business in this respect.

With the increasing use of in-car electronics and the high reliability requirements for vehicle systems, the automotive industry is a major customer group for the inspection of electronic assemblies. These assemblies, which often are safety-related components (ABS, ESP, airbags, etc.) or control systems for autonomous driving, are typically inspected using systems such as those offered by Viscom.

As a result of rising technological demands, including in the consumer goods industry, pressure to improve quality is also far higher than in previous years. However, the emphasis is being placed more on process quality, as a stable process improves the delivery quality and, in particular, results in fewer rejects and hence higher levels of production efficiency. At the same time, electronics manufacturers from Asia in particular are increasingly seeking to position themselves as premium providers.

Technological developments and the accompanying technical and economic progress, combined with Viscom's international sales and service presence, have helped to expand the market position and achieve long-term customer retention. By continuously developing its products, improving its business processes and adapting its sales organisation to reflect changing conditions, Viscom is in a position to address the challenges of the future and thus maintain and expand its market position.

Close, long-term customer contacts form the basis for comprehensive and customised service. The results of this cooperation are incorporated into the development of new system solutions and the refinement of proven systems. This allows Viscom to develop new solutions and open up future markets thanks to a high degree of innovation and customer proximity.

Customer structure

Viscom generated around 50 % of its revenue with its seven largest customers in the first six months of 2023 (previous year: around 48 % with the five largest customers). A further 30 % of revenue was generated with 19 customers (previous year: 19 customers). The remaining revenue was generated with a total of 296 different customers (previous year: 273 customers).

Summary analysis of the company's net assets, financial position and results of operations and course of business

Results of operations

Incoming orders / order backlog

Orders totalling € 63,303 thousand (previous year: € 54,728 thousand) were received in the first six months of 2023. This represented a substantial increase of 15.7 % as against the same period of the previous year and reflects the good placement of Viscom's inspection systems and services on the markets.

The order backlog rose significantly to € 48,347 thousand as at 30 June 2023 (previous year: € 38,827 thousand), which will ensure good capacity utilisation in all areas in the months ahead.

Revenue development

In the second quarter of 2023, revenue of € 25,824 thousand was recognised. This was 9.4 % higher than in Q1 2023 (€ 23,615 thousand) and 7.5 % higher than in the second quarter of the previous year (previous year: € 24,024 thousand). Viscom's total revenue in the first half of 2023 amounted to € 49,439 thousand, 10.3 % higher than the previous year's figure (€ 44,839 thousand).

Operating profit (EBIT) / EBIT-Margin

EBIT amounted to € 236 thousand in the first half of 2023 (previous year: € 1,003 thousand). This corresponded to an EBIT-Margin of 0.5 % (previous year: 2.2 %). EBIT was held back by higher material and staff costs and an increase in other operating expenses. Staff costs rose to € 21,150 thousand (previous year: € 18,205 thousand) as a result of the higher headcount and pay adjustments. Other operating expenses increased to € 7,907 thousand (previous year: € 6,094 thousand), particularly as a result of higher legal and consulting costs, selling and travel expenses, foreign exchange differences and implementation and licence costs for a new sales and service module (CRM system). Total operating revenue (defined as revenue plus the change in finished goods and work in progress and other own work capitalised) rose significantly by € 8,825 thousand to € 57,808 thousand (previous year: € 48,983 thousand). Accordingly, the cost of materials was up by € 4,956 thousand at € 26,003 thousand (previous year: € 21,047 thousand). Earnings were also increased by the growth in other operating income (€ 681 thousand; previous year: € 664 thousand) and the decline in depreciation and amortisation (€ 3,193 thousand; previous year: € 3,298 thousand).

Financial result

Financial income amounted to € 2 thousand (previous year: € 4 thousand). Financial expenses of € 788 thousand (previous year: € 223 thousand) resulted from interest on lease and bank liabilities. The financial result was negative at € -786 thousand and lower than the previous year's figure (€ -219 thousand).

Net profit for the period

Net profit for the period amounted to € -395 thousand (previous year: € 596 thousand). The effects in operating profit described above and the financial result also affected net profit for the period. This item was also affected by income tax income.

The pre-tax return on sales was -1.1 % (previous year: 1.7 %).

Earnings per share

Based on 8,885,060 shares, earnings per share (basic and diluted) amounted to € -0.03 (previous year: € 0.07) as at 30 June 2023.

Exchange rate effects

As it operates internationally, Viscom is exposed to exchange rate risks. Given the company's business volumes and the development of the euro/US dollar exchange rate, the current level of exchange rate risk was deemed acceptable without the need for hedging. 15.4 % of total revenue was subject to direct exchange rate effects (previous year: 34.7 %). Viscom reserves the right to hedge exchange rates in individual cases.