Barco has announced results for the 6-month period ended 30 June 2024. Sales were down in Q1 and below last year's numbers but they were higher in Q2 than Q1, indicating the start of an improvement in business conditions, particularly in the Americas.
Compared to last year, Q2 orders declined 4% whereas Q1 orders declined 23%. In EMEA, market conditions remained soft, mainly due to ongoing inventory digestion by Healthcare and Meeting Experience customers.
The orderbook in the first half of 2024 expanded to 533.3 million euro. While sales for Q1 declined 17% year-over-year, sales for Q2 declined 13% versus last year but were 22% higher than in Q1. For the first half, sales in EMEA declined due to weak market conditions in Entertainment and inventory destocking in Healthcare and Meeting Experience, partially offset by flat sales in the Americas.
In the report by Barco its states that customers delaying investments, driven by uncertainty in the macro-economic conditions and also in anticipation of the new product introductions that are planned for the second half of the year in all 3 divisions.
The Enterprise division saw the impact of customer inventory reductions for Meeting Experience, mainly in EMEA. Customers took additional inventory toward the end of 2023, ahead of changes in partner terms. Since the beginning of the year, ClickShare inventories in the channel have reduced now with more than 20 million euro. Meanwhile, the sell-out of ClickShare by its distributors to resellers and end-customers was in line with the market, at a single-digit decline in value versus last year.
After the successful strategic review in 2023, Control Rooms grew in Q1 and Q2 in orders and sales. For Control Rooms, growth in EMEA and the Americas was partially offset by a decline in APAC, where Barco withdrew from a number of markets.
Entertainment also experienced better results in Q2 than Q1, with orders up 18%, led by Americas and APAC.
In the Cinema market, cinema exhibitors delayed investments due to a weak movie slate at the beginning of the year, following the strike in Hollywood in 2023. A stronger slate is expected in the second half of 2024. The division continued to deliver on Cinema-as-a-Service contracts resulting in an increasing mix of recurring revenue.
For Immersive Experience demand is improving in the Americas, while EMEA is still facing soft market conditions. With several new product launches planned in the second half, the orderbook grew in Q2, as customers began to pre-order new products.
Co-CEO's An Steegen and Charles Beauduin said of the results; “In the first half of 2024, our business was hampered by customer inventory destocking in Meeting Experience and Healthcare. In Entertainment, customers delayed investments as a result of a light movie slate and in anticipation of our upcoming product launches. While visibility remains low, we have reasons to look forward to a very different second half of the year. Customer inventory levels are returning to normalised levels and the market conditions are improving in Entertainment. In addition, we are on track to launch numerous new products across all divisions, which we expect will contribute to both topline and profitability."