2024 INTERIM REPORT as at 31 March 2024

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
15 Regional developments 16 Financial position
17 Net assets
18 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 2024
Economic conditions

Other disclosures

IFRS interim consolidated financial statements

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

Selected notes

Notes to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income
Responsibility statement
Financial calendar 2024
Viscom structure
Legal notice

Operating figures

Profit and loss

		3M 2024	3M 2023
Revenues	K€	18,628	23,615
EBIT	K€	-2,382	232
Net profit for the period	K€	-1,947	-111

Balance sheet and cashflow statement figures

		3M 2024	3M 2023

Total assets	K€	112,436	116,988
Equity ratio	%	52.0	51.3
Cash flow from operating activities	K€	9,111	4,637
Cash flow from investing activities	K€	-1,303	-1,031
Cash flow from financing activities	K€	-1,415	-1,191
Cash and cash equivalents	K€	-18,708	-15,518

		3M 2024	3M 2023
Result per share	€	-0.22	0.00

Employees

	3M 2024	3M 2023
Employees on 31 March	597	578

VISCOM. Vision Technology.

Founded:

1984 by Dr. Martin Heuser and Volker Pape

Number of employees worldwide: 597

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

A growing reluctance to invest was already emerging among our customers in the second half of 2023. This situation grew worse in the first quarter of 2024. Owing to geopolitical uncertainty, the current economic difficulties and increased expenses for energy, raw materials and other materials and personnel, many of our customers are now even more cautious than one year ago. The scope for investment is further limited by interest rates and the associated elevated financing costs. In addition, there is currently not enough global stimulus for further growth leading to our customers expanding their capacities. The uncertain technological future of the automotive industry, which mainly affects electronics suppliers in the automotive sector, is likewise prompting greater restraint among our customers.

The currently weak demand on the markets squeezed our incoming orders to € 18.6 million (previous year: € 35.2 million). Customers have provided us with around 47 % fewer orders than in the previous year. In total, we generated revenue of € 18.6 million in the first quarter of 2024, around 21 % less than the figure for the same period of the previous year (€ 23.6 million). EBIT was significantly impacted by the low gross revenue and amounted to € -2.4 million in the first three months of this financial year (previous year: € 0.2 million).

Demand for inspection systems from our company increased again over the course of the first quarter. We have received an unusually very high number of customers as visitors at our Hanover location. A lot of very specific projects are already being discussed with our customers in all regions around the world. We are therefore cautiously optimistic that the current situation will ease in the second half of 2024 and that customers will resume their projects and place orders with Viscom AG. We have also been able to reduce our dependency on the automotive sector in recent years. We have succeeded in securing a positioning in other growth areas as well, such as battery production, consumer electronics and the back-end of semiconductor production. As a result of this diversification, we are nonetheless well positioned to balance demand fluctuations in individual sectors in the 2024 financial year. Megatrends such as electrification, automation and digitalisation also offer good growth opportunities in new areas for Viscom in the coming years.

Group-wide measures to handle the current situation while preserving liquidity were introduced at the start of 2024. Investments that were not immediately necessary were halted or require an individual assessment by the Executive Board.

Furthermore, all non-personnel costs were reviewed and the savings possible were realized in the first quarter of 2024. Expenses for trade fairs and travel not relating directly to sales were scaled back. At the Hanover location, in close coordination with the Works Council, an agreement was reached to introduce short-time work from 1 March 2024, initially due to continue until the end of May 2024. As part of this package of measures, the dividend is to be reduced as well. On 29 May 2024, the Annual General Meeting will propose a dividend of € 0.05 per entitled share for the 2023 financial year. The proposal to pay a reduced dividend for the 2023 financial year and to carry forward the remaining amount to new account are intended to ensure that Viscom AG's financial and liquidity position remain solid moving forward. This does not affect the Group's fundamental dividend policy of distributing at least 50 % of consolidated net profit.

Even though the current situation is bleak, we are still cautiously optimistic for the 2024 financial year. We are therefore confirming our existing forecast for the 2024 financial year of incoming orders and revenue of between € 100 million and € 110 million with an EBIT-Margin of between 3 % and 8 %. This corresponds to EBIT of between € 3.0 and € 8.8 million.

Please continue to place your trust in us so that we look ahead to 2024 with confidence in spite of all the challenges.

The Executive Board

Carsten Salewski Dr. Martin Heuser Dirk Schwingel

Viscom's shares

Basic information on Viscom's shares

784686
DE 000 7846867
V6C
Regulated market (Prime Standard)
No-par value bearer shares
9,020,000
9,020,000
8,885,060

Opening price on 2 January 2024	€ 7.90
Closing price on 28 March 2024*	€ 5.35
Percentage change	-23 %
High on 9 January 2024*	€ 7.95
Low on 8 March 2024*	€ 5.30
Market capitalisation as at 28 March 2024	€ 48,257,000

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

Share price performance

in the reporting period 1 January – 31 March 2024

The financial markets had a modest start to 2024. The ongoing geopolitical tension, fading hopes for interest rate cuts and rising market interest rates took a toll on the stock markets at the beginning of the year. In particular, technology stocks, which had risen rapidly in 2023, were high on investors' sell lists. However, driven by a mostly convincing corporate reporting season and the prospect of falling interest rates, market barometers climbed to new bests in February. The DAX, Germany's benchmark index, rose above 17,700 points for the first time in its history. Despite some geopolitical uncertainty and the ongoing discussion of inflation forecasts, investors remained optimistic and moved markets forwards in February. By contrast, the economic data for the German economy painted a sobering picture. Not only did the industry purchasing manager index reveal a decline in production, but GDP data also did not indicate any recovery for the economy in the near term. The stock markets nonetheless continued the positive trend in March. The DAX performed particularly well, setting a series of new records that peaked at 18,514 points. Meanwhile, small cap indices lagged behind this trend, and only the TechDAX benefited from the ongoing delight in AI.

Viscom AG's shares began the current financial year at a price of € 7.90 on 2 January 2024 and reached their high for the year to date at € 7.95 on 9 January 2024. Viscom's shares began the year tracking sideways. In February 2024, the high level of trading led to increasing downward pressure, and the willingness to sell Viscom shares continued without slowing for several weeks. Accompanied by high turnover, Viscom AG's share price had been gradually declining since the start of February. Viscom AG's bleak prospects for the 2024 financial year have also had a negative effect on its market value. Viscom's shares fell to their low for the year to date at € 5.30 per share on 8 March 2024. The downward pressure then eased and the share price fluctuated between € 5.30 and € 5.70 until the end of March 2024. The average price of Viscom's stock was € 6.74 in the first three months of 2024, closing at € 5.35 per share as at the end of the quarter.

Share price performance as against the DAX and TecDAX in the first three months of 2024

Shareholder structure

Shareholder of long standing 60.12 %

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 60.12 % 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 its shares are held by Allianz Retraite S.A. The 33.46 % of shares in free float are primarily held by investors in Germany and other European countries.

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. Pareto Securities AS and EQUI.TS GmbH regularly cover and comment on Viscom's shares. The shares had two "buy" recommendations as at 31 March 2024.

Extensive information on Viscom's shares can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.viscom.com.

You can also contact the Investor Relations department at the following address:

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

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 (here-inafter referred to as Viscom).

Viscom AG is entered in commercial register B of the Hanover Local Court under 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. 60.12 % 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 its shares are held by Allianz Retraite S.A.

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 of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board published in the German Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) on 10 July 2013.

Under item 7 of the agenda, the Annual General Meeting of the company on 8 June 2021 resolved to create new authorised capital (Authorised Capital 2021) with the option to disapply shareholders' pre-emption rights in certain cases. Authorised Capital 2021 was entered in the competent commercial register on 15 June 2021. It is limited to the end of 7 June 2026. Regarding this authorisation, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Viscom AG, Hanover, hereby announce that the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Viscom AG adopted the following unanimous resolution on 8 December 2023:

"For the duration of the authorisation, i.e. until the end of 7 June 2026, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Viscom AG issue the following irrevocable pledge that will be permanently accessible in the Investor Relations section of the company's website:

The total number of shares issued on the basis of the authorisations to disapply pre-emption rights in accordance with item 7 of the agenda of the Annual General Meeting of 8 June 2021 with pre-emption rights disapplied for capital increases in return for cash or non-cash contributions must not exceed 5 % of the share capital, either at the time that the authorisation becomes effective or when it is exercised.

This pledge also applies in the event that an extraordinary general meeting of the company resolves to transform Viscom AG into a European company (societas europaea (SE)) whose articles of association permit its executive board, with the approval of the supervisory board, to disapply shareholders' pre-emption rights in capital increases in return for cash or non-cash contributions in conjunction with authorised capital on one or more occasions.'

The extraordinary general meeting on 24 November 2023 approved Viscom AG's transformation into Viscom SE.

As at 31 March 2024, Viscom AG held committed capital reserves in accordance with section 272(2) no. 1 HGB amounting to € 14,894,150.08.

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. Viscom AG held around 1.50 % of its shares as treasury shares as at 31 March 2024.

The Executive Board of Viscom AG has three members as at 31 March 2024:

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 together with the Exacom GmbH, and a sales subsidiary in Paris, France, the sales market of the Americas from its sales subsidiary in Atlanta, USA, plus a service company in Mexico, 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.

Furthermore, Viscom AG operates a company for the manufacture of metal frames that works exclusively 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 as well as project-specific development to adapt basic types of machines 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

There were no fundamental changes to the legal and economic framework with a material effect on the company in the first quarter of 2024.

The weakened state of the global economy due to geopolitical conflict and distortion is weighing on the economic prospects in Germany for 2024 and thus on the business performance of the Viscom Group as well. In addition, the effects of elevated prices for energy and raw materials, as well as higher staff costs and costs of capital, are still being felt. Investment in Germany is suffering under this macroeconomic framework. Bureaucracy and regulation, corporate taxes and the public infrastructure are acute impediments to investment in Germany as well.

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.

Viscom AG was listed in the Prime Standard of the regulated market on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as at 31 March 2024. The company publishes quarterly and half-yearly consolidated financial reports in accordance with IFRS.

Research and development

Development activities mainly focus on the advancement of existing system solutions and the implementation of new market requirements in the field of optical and X-ray inspection processes. This business area also focuses on the definition of new products and systems. The focus of research and development activities is described in detail on pages 23 to 25 of Viscom AG's 2023 annual report and has not changed over the first three months of the current year.

Expenditure for research and development, not including design changes for customer-specific adaptations, remained at the previous year's level. Development costs of € 1,061 thousand were capitalised in the first three months of 2024 (previous year: € 895 thousand). Capitalised development costs were written down in the amount of € 610 thousand (previous year: € 570 thousand).

Economic report

Macroeconomic and sector development

Macroeconomic development

The German economy fell stagnant in winter 2023/2024. Among companies and households, sentiment is poor and uncertainty is high. As before, high interest rates, sluggish world trade and the only gradual return of private households' purchasing power are still stifling the German economy. Germany is clearly falling behind the other major European nations: Not only is the sentiment there better, but the uncertainty is less; also, the relevant indicators have already been signalling a gradual economic recovery since autumn 2023. In Germany, by contrast, economic output remained flat over the past summer and even dipped by 0.3 % in the final quarter of 2023. The contraction in value added was particularly severe in the industry and construction sectors. Above all, companies complained of a lack of orders. Exports, alongside investments by businesses and in construction, fell sharply at the end of the year. The only factor propping up the economy was private consumer spending. Inflation has been falling swiftly for a year now, while real income has been rising at an impressive pace. This has meant the return of purchasing power. Nevertheless, consumers were cautious in their spending and held on to some of their increased purchasing power in the form of savings. In all probability, this is due to the uncertainty in connection with the German government's economic policy. A new budget was passed for 2024 at the start of the year, further tightening the already restrictive policy. Additional savings of an estimated € 12 billion were resolved. Companies and households will have to pay more or will receive less relief, and public sector spending will be cut. The sickness rate remains high as well, and there was the additional impact of ongoing strikes in the first quarter of 2024.

There are signs of a slight improvement in the situation, though this is not expected to be felt until future quarters. Industry remains the problem child of the German economy. While business forecasts brightened somewhat in March 2024, the order situation is still tense and orders on hand have been falling almost constantly in recent months. Although industrial production rose slightly compared to the weak figure for December, it is mired at roughly the same low level as summer 2020, when the German economy was in the grip of the COVID pandemic. According to surveys, consistently high energy and raw materials prices, the slow recovery in domestic demand and the uncertainty of economic policy are the main factors weighing on industrial companies' business and sentiment.

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 electronics manufacturers in the automotive sector, manufacturers of consumer end devices 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 end devices 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 sectors electromobility and computers, communication and consumer (3C).

Worldwide, equipment and machinery worth around an estimated € 3,280 billion (previous year: € 3,330 billion) were sold in 2023. Adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, global machinery revenue was therefore down by 1.5 % on the previous year. The EU volume was € 908 billion in 2023, equivalent to 27.7 % of global machinery revenue. Internationally, China is still ranked well ahead of the US and Germany.

Adjusted for inflation, global machinery revenue was stagnant in 2023. The German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) is forecasting that 2024 will again be a year of transition for mechanical engineering, and that global machinery revenue will remain flat (adjusted for inflation). Developments varied considerably from region to region, according to the VDMA. Growth is expected in some Asian countries, albeit only in a low, single-digit range. In the US, machinery revenue will shrink again after falling 4 % in the previous year, though the decline will be less severe at -1 %. In the EU, machinery revenue is expected to be down by 3 % year-on-year in 2024. The prior-year result here was better than expected at approximately +1 %.

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 65 % of revenue (previous year: 73 %). 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 35 % of revenue (previous year: 27 %) relates to manufacturers from other industries, such as battery production and consumer electronics.

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 safetyrelated components (ABS, ESP, airbags, etc.) or control systems for autonomous driving, are typically inspected using systems such as those of-fered 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 49 % of its revenue with its seven largest customers in the first three months of 2024 (previous year: around 50 % with five customers). A further 30 % of revenue was generated with twelve customers (previous year: 13 customers). The remaining revenue was generated with a total of 238 different customers (previous year: 205 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 € 18,625 thousand (previous year: € 35,157 thousand) were received in the first three months of 2024. This represented a substantial decrease of 47.0 % as against the same period of the previous year and reflects the currently weak demand situation on the markets.

The order backlog fell to € 28,949 thousand as at 31 March 2024 (previous year: € 46,026 thousand; previous year: 31 December 2023: € 28,952 thousand).

Revenue development

Revenue of € 18,628 thousand was recognised in the first quarter of 2024. This was therefore 21.1 % lower than in the same period of the previous year (€ 23,615 thousand).

Operating profit (EBIT) / EBIT-Margin

EBIT amounted to € -2,382 thousand in the first quarter of 2024 (previous year: € 232 thousand) with a margin of -12.8 % (previous year: 1.0 %). Down on the previous year, EBIT was held back by lower gross revenue in particular. Total operating revenue (defined as revenue plus the change in finished goods and work in progress and other own work capitalised) declined significantly by € 9,172 thousand to € 19,102 thousand (previous year: € 28,274 thousand). Accordingly, the cost of materials was down by € 6,353 thousand at € 6,600 thousand (previous year: € 12,953 thousand). Staff costs rose slightly to € 10,560 thousand (previous year: € 10,329 thousand) as a result of the higher headcount and pay adjustments. Earnings were also increased by the decline in other operating expenses (€ 3,089 thousand; previous year: € 3,478 thousand), in particular as a result of lower costs for administration, distribution and foreign exchange differences, and the increase in other operating income (€ 443 thousand; previous year: € 313 thousand).

Financial result

Finance income amounted to € 1 thousand (previous year: € 1 thousand). Financial expenses of € 537 thousand (previous year: € 373 thousand) resulted from interest on lease and bank liabili-ties. The financial result was negative at € -536 thousand and lower than the previous year's figure (€ -372 thousand).

Net profit for the period

Net profit for the period amounted to € -1,947 thousand (previous year: € -111 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 -15.7 % (previous year: -0.6 %).

Earnings per share

Based on 8,885,060 shares, earnings per share (basic and diluted) amounted to € -0.22 (previous year: € 0.00) as at 31 March 2024.

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. Around 26 % of total revenue was subject to direct exchange rate effects (previous year: around 14 %). The rise in exchange rate effects was due in particular to the Americas region accounting for a higher share of total revenue. Currency translation differences had a positive net effect on earnings of € 95 thousand in the first quarter of 2024 (previous year: negative effect of € 203 thousand).