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Detection Technology - Slowish start, but things are picking up

DT believes that worst challenges in SBU are behind and security will head toward growth starting in Q2. As the security market is slowly starting to recover and demand in medical market remains strong, we remain positive towards the investment case given both the market drivers as well as DT’s strategy and execution capabilities. Based on increased confidence in security market recovery and strong outlook in medical, we raise our target price to €30 (prev. €28.5) but maintain HOLD recommendation.

A slow start to the year

DT’s Q1 result was broadly in line regarding net sales, but EBIT clearly missed ours and consensus expectations, although EBIT improved somewhat y/y. Q1 net sales amounted to EUR 18.3m (-8% y/y) vs. EUR 19.2m/19.2m Evli/consensus estimates. Q1 EBIT was EUR 1.4m (7,5% margin) vs. EUR 2.2m/1.94m Evli/cons. R&D costs amounted to EUR 2.4m or 13% of net sales (Q1’20: 2,6m, 13%). SBU net sales decreased -37,7% to EUR 5.8m vs. EUR 6.0m Evli estimate. Decrease was mainly due to COVID-19 situation continuing to affect the security market. IBU net sales increased +11% to EUR 2.4m vs. EUR 2.7m Evli estimate. MBU net sales increased +20% to EUR 10.1m which was broadly in line with our estimate of EUR 10.5m. Growth was driven by continued good demand for medical CT applications, especially in China.

 Strong medical to continue, security also starting to recover

The increased investments in healthcare infrastructure and demand for CT applications have kept momentum for MBU strong. As a result, DT expects MBU sales to grow over 20% in Q2 and H2. DT is also seeing early positive signals in the security market after a difficult year. DT believes that worst challenges in SBU are behind and security will head toward growth starting in Q2 and continue to grow in H2. IBU sales is expected to be at the same level as in the comparison period in Q2 but to grow in H2. In total, DT expects total net sales to grow double-digit in Q2 and in H2 of 2021 driven mainly by the strong medical demand.

 Target price of €30 (prev. €28.5), HOLD rating

Our estimates are broadly unchanged after the report. As the security market is slowly starting to recover and demand in medical market remains strong, we remain positive towards the investment case given both the market drivers as well as DT’s strategy and execution capabilities. We expect both net sales and EBIT growth to recover in 2021E, but accurately predicting the slope of the recovery is challenging. We expect 2021E to be a year of recovery, and DT to resume above 15% margins from 2022E onwards. Based on increased confidence in security market recovery and strong outlook in medical, we raise our target price to €30 (prev. €28.5) but maintain HOLD recommendation.

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