Business review January-September 2020

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry experts estimated that the global medical X-ray imaging equipment market would grow at an average rate of about 5% per annum, the security segment by 6% and the industrial sector by about 5%. In Detection Technology’s view, the market disruption caused by the pandemic will continue in all of its main markets, with the exception of medical CT imaging, and the annual growth rate in all other segments will be lower than the aforementioned estimates in 2020 and in H1 of 2021. According to the latest estimates by market research, post-pandemic growth will compensate slower demand during the pandemic resulting in about 5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the security segment in 2020–2025.

Business outlook

Detection Technology expects MBU sales to grow in Q4 and to continue to grow in Q1 of 2021, albeit more slowly than in 2020. The security market is expected to head for growth in Q2 of 2021 at the earliest, and the lower-than-usual growth in the industrial segment is expected to continue at least until the end of 2020. SBU net sales are thus expected to decrease in Q4 year-on-year, but the company expects them to improve in H1 of 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic creates extraordinary uncertainty for the global economy and the company’s business, and the predictability of the company’s target markets is still lower than usual. Detection Technology aims to increase sales by at least 10% per annum and to achieve an operating margin at or above 15% in the medium term.