Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the SKAN Group AG full year 2023 results conference call. I am Simone, the conference call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and zero. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Thomas Huber. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to this conference call to talk about the financial results of 2023 of the SKAN Group. The agenda of today is: first, I would like to give you an overview of the business year 2023, then I will talk a little bit about the execution of our strategy, what we achieved in 2023. And on the third point, Burim will give you some details about the financial results. And on point number four, I will try to give you guys an outlook into 2024 and the future, and then we are happy to take your questions. On this slide, you can see the highlights of the financial year 2023.
I think what we can say that we have now stabilized your order intake on a healthy level again, after the large order intake in 2022, which was about 60% higher than in 2021. We now are on a, let's say, on a more regular level again. Net sales, we achieved a growth of 15.5%, which is absolutely within our guidance to CHF 320 million. We also were able to increase the EBITDA by about 24.9%, and reach an EBITDA margin of 15.7%, which exceeds our guidance. We invested about CHF 35.3 million, mainly in Pre-Approved S ervices, and our order backlog currently at CHF 312 million.
That gives us a book-to-bill ratio of about 0.9, on, on the whole group, from a whole group point of view. Equipment and Solutions, and Services and C onsumables are the two business segments that we are reporting on. Equipment and Solutions, so more the hardware part, machines that you can touch and feel. In 2023, we can say that the incoming orders were again more evenly split between large customized machines that are typically used for high-speed filling compared to the smaller, more standardized isolators. You might remember last year it was the big machines. We had a lot of orders for big machines because most of them were considered to go into COVID manufacturing. Now, the split is again pretty even, pretty much 50/50, and plus minus as it was prior to COVID.
We also made progress in our strategic initiatives. I would like to mention specifically standardization. You remember early 2023, we reorganized our group and we, I think we have now dedicated groups that are really focusing on standardization, and I'm happy to report also first progress is there. Once again, we have invested about 7% of our sales into development, research and development. This is expensed in the year, directly into the year, and also allows us to keep on top or to stay one step ahead from a technical point of view. On the Services and C onsumables side, basically, that segment was the key driver for the margin. I think we can say that in the reporting year.
Our automated process solution for closed vials from our Belgian subsidiary were also in a very high demand. We can also say that our strategic initiative, Pre-approved services, is well on track. We are absolutely within our timeline and are still very positive to meet authority approvals end of next year and go live in 2026. When we look at the strategy execution, you remember this slide showing our four pillars in our strategic initiatives. Number one, we want to fortify our market leadership in our core business. Number two, we want to expand addressable markets towards integrated process systems, so more integrated systems. Number three, we also want to increase our lifecycle services program and our consumables.
On the fourth pillar, we talk about digitalization, which is kind of key, key and an integral part of the work that we do. On the next slide, you can actually see the progress. So on pillar one, I think what we'd like to mention is that we have launched our SKANsphere. So which is a digital platform that allows us to monitor the health of our equipment, our decentralization process. You know, progress, right? This is also taking place quite well. We have integrated data management systems to increase the efficiency at customer site.
I think we can also say that the Annex 1, right, the new regulation that was published about 18 months ago, has now really come into play and is pushing the bar even higher from a technological point of view, which actually allows us to profit from that because our machines comply with these new guidelines. On pillar two, I think we can say that we have done quite some progress on the integrated side. Together with AT, we launched several new robotic projects that we have installed, but we also have new drugs in our vials. So we currently have about 7 drugs in closed vials, approved in 14 different countries.
Very important for us to have an outlook into the future are the 450 substances that are being tested in closed vials in the different clinical phases. So this gives us an idea of what potential, potentially can come into the closed vial. And good to see here is that the 450 is like, about 10% more than it was, the last time we published figures. So although investments into R&D have been reduced last year significantly, and, subsidized fundings were not as flowing as good as anymore, we still could increase the number of substances being tested. We increased our stake, in AT to 85%, as you know, and we have already announced that we will increase our stake to 90% as per this year.
On lifecycle support, I think it's also important to see that in general, our services are more and more in demand. We also have a very high demand in our retrofit business. We are also progressing very well in pre-approved services, as I already mentioned. When we talk about digitalization, I think here we can mention the VR mock-up, the virtual mock-up that allows our customers to virtually test the ergonomics of an isolator, and which saves us, let's say, of building a wooden one-to-one mock-up, and also transferring the information from the mock-up into the design. Now, this can be done all in one with this virtual mock-up.
The last point I would like to highlight, the One-Button R elease, which is kind of the digitization of the paperwork that comes with the batch release, which will give a significant automation step to the pharmaceutical industry, but also a significant reduction of potential mistakes. When we look at the group, we have been growing again in the whole group. I think important to see is that our decentralization approach is working. When you look at the number in the middle, below the 112 employees that we have hired in Switzerland, actually 30 out of those go to our subsidiary in Stein.
If we look at the decentralization, that is pushing resources to our subsidiaries, we can say that about 60% of the growth of the company, of the whole group, has happened in the subsidiaries and 40% in our headquarters only. From that point of view, decentralization is slowly taking place and is also now seen in the figures. When we look at AT, right? AT, those 7 drugs that are registered in our vials are listed here. You see the companies that have their products on the left side. Important is also to understand, let's say, the different flags that you see, which represent where those drugs are registered or approved.
And so compared to last year, where we had about 5 drugs in 9 countries at this time, we currently have 7 drugs in 14 countries. So registering a drug in different countries is obviously also good for sales and good for the volume. As I already mentioned, the 450 active ingredients are a good indicator that we expect this number to further grow as we have initially planned. Good. So then I would like to hand over to Burim for the financial results.
Thank you, Thomas. Also from my side, welcome to this call. In the next 15 minutes, I will give you some more insights of the figures. When we look at the order intake on slide 12, we have, as mentioned, as already mentioned, we see clearly that the order intake has stabilized at a healthy level with CHF 295 million. Compared to the previous year in 2022, where we had this extraordinary order intake as a post-COVID catch-up effect in 2022. But more important is also to see the growth trajectory, which is from 2020 to 2023, we see a CAGR of 13.6%. If we compare it with the study that we did during our IPO from the LEK study, there is mentioned that the market will grow about 11%.
So we are outgrowing, still outgrowing, the underlying market with 13.6%. On the right side, when we look at the regional development, we see clearly also the impact of this stabilization of the order intake. We see also clearly that in the Americas region, we have a bigger dip, but this is, there is a special effect there. We had some during the year, we had some cancellations, some cancellation of projects, but also an order that has been ordered, or the customer has ordered a project for the American market, and during the publication, they decided to close this site and shift this project to Europe, to Ireland.
So this effect is also, or this effect has also an impact in the decrease in the Americas region. Very important also to see that we have already first orders received from the GLP-1 production capacities, but this is, or to mention it, at the moment, is single digit in the overall order intake, currently. The growth or the decline on the constant currency rates is about 26% compared to the normal decline of 28.3%. What we are also seeing regarding the order intake is that the order pipeline, that means a quote that we are sending out for customers, is increasing, which gives us, again, a very good visibility for the future growth.
On the next, next slide, when we look at the net sales, here we have a very good growth rate, it's 15.5%. We have been growing from CHF 277 million to CHF 320 million. If we'll look at the growth rate on the constant currency rate, the growth is at 19.2%, which is on the upper end of our guidance. In the middle, we have the separation of both half years, and we clearly see that in the second half year, we had a stronger growth of about 30%, stronger compared to the first half year.
The main reason which drives this growth in the second half year, is that the shifts of revenue intensive phases in the project business, has taken place in the second year. That's why we grow, faster in the, second half year. The order backlog is, coming down again from CHF 260 million to CHF 312 million, and this is, this is a positive effect. Or let's say, we, we still have a very good visibility, for, for the future growth, but it's also positive impacting our delivery times, for our, our customer as they are getting more and more, attractive, down the road. On the next slide, when we look at the margin improvement, we, we, we had a very, very good, EBITDA.
We improved the EBITDA from CHF 40.2 million to CHF 50.1 million, which results in an increase of about 25%. Regarding the EBITDA margin, we also improved from fourteen point five million to from 14.5% to 15.7%, and this is overshooting our guidance. On the right side, we also see clearly the impact of the shifting of the project milestones in the second half year, where we have a 70% stronger growth in EBITDA in the second half year, driven by the project business, or let's say, project milestone shifting in the second half year.
But the main driver also here for the margin improvement is the service and consumables business, especially the Aseptic Technologies closed vial, and the consumables from Aseptic Technologies, but also the spare parts business, which is increasing also with the installed base, and also the retrofit business in the service and consumables segment. But now, if we go again back. So when we look on the left side, the cost development, we clearly see also here that we have increased our insourcing of the production. That's why the material and external services are more or less on the same level as previous year, with a slight increase, but in relation with the net sales, the ratio is decreasing from 27.6% to 24.8%. On the other side, we have for the...
As a result of this insourcing, we have increased also our employees. As you see, we ramped up resources for another 216 employees, which is also resulting in an increase in personnel cost. But when we look at the ratio of personnel intensity, which is slightly increasing from 45.1% to 46.76%, is still on a good level. The other operating expenses are increasing in line with our net sales growth. On the next slide, we have the segment Equipment and Solutions.
Here we clearly see, again, the stabilizing of the order intake, where we booked CHF 213 million. From a net sales point of view, we have been growing about 14.2%, corrected or under constant currency rate, the net sales grew about 17.3%, and the portion of the overall net sales from equipment solution is slightly decreasing to 74.1%. We have been able also to improve our margin from CHF 23 million to CHF 26.8 million, which results in an increase of almost 17%. We have been able also to close or to complete about 770 projects, which is promising for the growth in the segment of service and consumables, as our installed base is increasing.
Here is also, again, too, important to understand, that we have invested about 7% of the group net sales in, research and development, and directly expense it to the P&L, in 2023. On the next slide, where the service and consumables also here, a very nice growth in order intake from CHF 75 million to CHF 81.8 million, which is resulting in 9% growth rate. But when we also here, look at on the constant currency rates, it is a double-digit growth of 15.2%.
From a net sales point of view, the segment is growing on a faster pace with 19.6%, and the main driver here is, again, the consumables business, especially the AT-Closed Vials, but also the parts business from the conventional service, what we are providing, but also the retrofit business. The margin has been improved, or we were able to improve the margin from—EBITDA margin from 24.8% to 28.1%. Again, here, the main driver for this improvement is the consumables business from AT. On the next slide, when we look at the cash situation, the cash position has decreased from CHF 126 million to CHF 85 million.
The main driver here for this decrease is the operating cash flow, which is compared to the previous year, a decline. Last year, we had the operating cash flow of CHF 61 million, and in the reporting period, we are showing an operating cash flow of CHF 8.7 million. The main driver is the stabilized order intake, as mentioned at the beginning, and the related down payments or advanced payments from our customers. In general, the operating cash flow is also fluctuating due to our project nature of our business. In the middle, the investing cash flow, we have invested about CHF 42.3 million.
The main investment went for the pre-approved services, but also expansion in Switzerland, but also in Germany, and also the increase of another 5% stake in Aseptic Technologies. The CHF 25 million fixed term deposit, we have invested this CHF 25 million. This has been, how to say,
Expired.
Expired. So it has a positive impact in the investing cash flow, resulting in a CHF 17.3 million investing cash flow in the reporting period. The financing cash flow, with minus CHF 15.8 million, is driven mainly by a repayment of the loans from banks that we had with in connection with the production site in Görlitz, and also the payment of the dividends of last year. On the right side, very positive is also again, if we go back, positive is the development of the ROCE. Despite the significant investments or the growth investment, we have been able to maintain a strong ROCE at 19.7%.
On the next slide, when I look at the balance sheet, we still have a very strong balance sheet, or let's say, strong finance structure. The cash development, I already mentioned, and on the right side, we have a decrease on financial liabilities, as I mentioned, with the repayment from loans in connection with with the production site in Görlitz. From a equity ratio, we have a very strong or yeah very strong equity ratio at 47.2%. On the next slide, we are suggesting to the general assembly of the seventh of May, to a dividend of 0.35 CHF per share, which is 40% higher dividend proposal compared to the previous year.
This is resulting in a cash distribution about CHF 7.9 million, resulting in a payout ratio of 30%.... Fifty percent of the payout will be from the, capital contribution reserves, which is tax-free, and fifty percent comes from the return, retained, earnings. On the next slide, a short summary. It was, again, a very successful, financial year for the SKAN Group. We have been consistent, growing at, if you see on the right side, with 19.2%. We have a very good visibility with, order backlog of CHF 312 million. We have been improving also the margin, which is overshooting the guidance. Both segment has contributed to this, nice result.
We have been able also to improve the service and consumables margin to 28.1%, and also been able to maintain a strong ROCE with 19.7%, despite the significant investments in the future growth. We have a very strong financial structure to finance the future growth. Then I will hand over to Thomas for outlook.
Thank you, Burim. Let me give you a few words about the outlook, about the future. For those of you who have seen the left and middle part of this slide before, you remember that, 2005, none of the blockbuster medication was an injectable. Back in 2020, already 50% of the top 10 blockbusters were large molecule injectables that are qualifying to be filled in an isolator. If you look at the statistics in 2023, already 70% of those top-selling drugs are injectables for large molecules. In other words, are requiring, are requiring, aseptic fill finish, which basically our technology is top-notch. I think that's very important to understand, when we think about can the growth of SKAN continue for the coming years, or will it come to a stop, sooner or later?
So from my point of view, when I look at the development of those drugs, and also when I look at other trends that are all showing into the direction of injectables. So when we look into injectables, so basically we are convinced that the market continues to grow, and that we will be able to play a major role in this growing market. So when we look at this, so we assume that the momentum will continue to grow. The underlying growth of the global biopharmaceutical market is still there, is still to be considered in the, I think it was expected to be about 11%.
When we look at the injectable drugs, right, which are growing faster within the biopharmaceutical market, we expect that we can continue to ride this wave and grow at a faster pace than the underlying market. On top of that, we also see still a shift from traditional clean rooms into isolator technology. So basically, I would say most of the new investments are being done in the latest technology, which would be isolator technology. And also still in the West, we see the positive impact of reshoring. Western companies are trying to regain independence from Asian markets, and so we also see a lot of investment going into reshoring. As a consequence, we expect that our market for our equipment, but also our services and consumables, will continue to grow.
When we look at the current year, right, we started the year with a healthy pipeline and are kind of positive that this will continue throughout the year. We also see that we continue to see a robust growth in our core markets, which is mainly North America and Western Europe. So also from an investment point of view, we continue to push our initiatives in North America, but also Switzerland and Germany, to grow and to prepare enough capacity to meet the future demands. So from that point of view, I think we can say that we are confident to achieve our growth targets also in the coming year.
When we look at the guidance, we will keep the guidance similar to how it has been last year. So basically, we expect sales growth still in the mid to upper teens, so somewhere between 15% and 19%. Equipment solutions will grow a little bit slower than service and consumables. When we look at the margin, you have seen that we have overachieved the margin this year with 15.7%. Our guidance remains with the 13%-15%. First of all, because we are still in a, let's say, in a lumpy business environment with our large projects. We also have to see that the Swiss franc has gained strength again, that is basically eating some of the margin that we win through standardization, through efficiencies.
is basically consuming this margin again. Plus, we also have to see that customers—so since money has again a value, so since we are in a environment with interest rates, customers are more, let's say, more careful of spending money. So we expect that 2024 will be a nice year again, but we want to stay conservative on the EBITDA margin and prefer to correct the value after mid-year, if we see the progress of the business year more closely. Okay, so I think that was the global overview of the figures 2023, and we are happy to take your questions.
We will now begin the question -and-d answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, then you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use only handsets when asking your questions. For webcast participants, you can ask questions via the webcast chat function by pressing on the question mark icon. For our audio participants, anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question comes from the line of Odysseas Manesiotis with Berenberg. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for taking my questions. So first of all, when looking at your order backlog being somewhat below your sales for full year 2023, and also the normalized order intake in H2, could you please elaborate on what product groups who are not currently in your backlog, are expected to drive this mid- to high-teens sales growth that you expect for 2024?
Yes, thank you for this question. I'm happy to answer it. So basically, the order backlog right now, we're with a book-to-bill ratio of 0.9, would actually assume that we might not grow in the future. Now, first of all, we have been, our order backlog has been growing significantly in the past, which had a negative impact on lead times. So our lead times became pretty unattractive over the past years. And to be honest, one of the reasons why our order intake was not as high was, besides of some cancellation, also that we just lost some orders to competition because our lead times are just not attractive anymore. So for us, actually to come back to an attractive range, we have to have a book-to-bill or an order...
A book-to-bill ratio of less than one for one or two years, to get back to normal results. Now, for 2024, right, we go with a book-to-bill ratio of 0.9. Now, you have to see that on the equipment solution side, it's still bigger than one, since services turn much faster. So that's the 0.9 is obviously for the whole, for the whole, group. So from that point of view, we are pretty confident that now lead times become more normal again. Now, how or why do I still sleep well, thinking about growth in the future? So what we currently see, and I think it's a direct, a direct consequence of, what we have already in the news, that, Novo has acquired, Catalent.
Catalent, one of the biggest CDMOs, in North America, that will now slowly but surely, exclusively, probably work for Novo Nordisk. And so this has triggered a lot of requirements for new investments on all other pharma companies that are using Catalent as a CDMO. So when we look at the last few weeks, we have seen our request for quotation pipeline almost exploding. And so typically, we can see that this would translate into orders in the coming six to 12 months. And so from that point of view, I'm pretty confident that this wave that we had now during COVID will actually become a GLP-1 wave, or I would say an indirect GLP-1 wave, that will help us to also grow in the coming years.
Thank you so much. That's very helpful. And I mean, on your comments on the answer that you said book-to-bill could be below one for a year or two. I mean, looking at how you're doing to normalize this year, you did say that you could be seeing a lot of these GLP-1 and Novo Catalent related orders falling into H1. Basically, how should we think about order development in 2024 versus sales? Does it make sense to assume that you'll return to above one book-to-bill for the full year? And if not, would it be fair to assume, let's say, a lower than usual growth year in 2025, perhaps?
... Well, I would see it the opposite way. So, I mean, the order intake that, or the request for quotes that we see currently growing significantly, will translate into orders, by the end, let's say, after 6-12 months, which will be by the end of this year or literally by next year. So we expect the order intake to grow significantly again, in H2 of this year and also in next year. So since we still have a very healthy order backlog for this year, right? And the CHF 312 million is obviously the whole for the whole group, but or the backlog is important for the equipment solutions for the long-term part. So all the services that turn quite quick are not, let's say, not in this consideration.
We are comfortable that we have enough food for 2024, and we will generate food for 2025 this year and next year.
Very clear. Thanks. And, another one, please. So, given that it sounds like you're improving your product mix here, you're seeing improving utilization and insourcing, following expansions at your Görlitz and Stein plants as we move to 2024. You are assuming flat margins year to year, and as you said, part of that has to do with effects. I just wanted to know whether the additional margin you get from cancellation fees from order cancellation fees has flattered your margins in H2 last year, and whether, if you could quantify that impact as well, and whether that's in play for you, too.
I think we can say that, yes, we got some cancellations, and typically when we get a cancellation of an order, we at least get paid for the work done, plus some profit proportional profit on that work. I wouldn't say that the cancellations we received last year have significantly impacted the results in neither a positive or a negative way.
This year, also, you have to understand that the cancellations that we received end of last year were from one multinational big company, and they basically, I mean, part of those machines are built, and they basically canceled the orders, but also we had to give them the option that if within this year they decide to go back, right, we would have to go back and continue with this project. So from that point of view, if we would have now booked all the profit, we would then suffer from that in the future. So I think the cancellations, they are, let's say they are from a profit point of view, they are pretty neutral in 2023.
What you have to understand that, right, those orders that have been canceled end of last year, we got those orders in 2022 and mainly in 2022. So actually, they contributed to the huge growth in order intake in 2022, but now are deleted out of 2023. So if we would normalize this, the whole growth would also look more, let's say, more stable.
Understood. Thank you, Thomas. And if I add another one. So on the GLP-1 side of things, you did, Graham did touch on it, saying you got a single digit order intake benefit from GLP-1s last year. Is this, let's say, just the start of this benefit? Why are you benefiting a bit quicker than a bit slower, let's say, than how these opportunities are developing? And should we expect it to, I mean, it sounds like you've become a bit more bullish on the opportunity since last time we spoke around GLP-1. So is it possible that the single digit order intake benefit from GLP-1s last year becomes double digit this year?
I still think that on the GLP-1 side, we are kind of profiting in the second row, right? Yes, we do have orders for GLP-1 installations, but they are in the single digit range of our sales. So from what we profit from is, right, that those companies now acquire CDMOs that will exclusively fill GLP-1 for them, right? These are CDMOs that have been filling insulin and so on before. In other words, they just continue to fill this GLP-1 peptide, which is an insulin.
So from that point of view, we profit from the fact that now they exclusively reserve this capacity for themselves, and now there is no capacity left for all the others, and this is where we now profit from, that those companies now need to invest to compensate that. But yes, we will definitely profit from the fact that there is a need for more aseptic fill finish capacity globally. But I don't think that we will build the next 50 isolator lines just for GLP-1.
All clear, and the very last one for me. On the lead times getting improved that you mentioned, so was this for isolators? And, could you quantify on average how much these lead times were started from and where they are now, basically?
... I think the lead times, I mean, that obviously depends on the size and complexity of the machines. But last year, mid of last year, the lead times that we were able to offer to our customers were somewhere between 18 or 16 and 20 months, and now they come down to somewhere 12-14 months when I talk about a big isolator line.
All clear. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
The next question is from the line of Leonildo Delgado with Baader Helvea. Please go ahead.
Hi, Erich. Thanks for taking my questions. Few questions as well on my side. First one, could you please elaborate on the contribution of Aseptic Technologies to the overall results in 2023?
Very good question. We still don't publish any details on, on Aseptic Technologies, so their services part, their consumables part is part of our service and consumables figures, and their equipment is part of equipment and solutions.
Okay. So moving on to the next one. Would it be possible for you to quantify the impact of our integrated process in standardization, especially standardization on margin improvement that we have just seen in 2023? And do you think there's still possible some additional upside, and how much would that be moving forward?
Yeah. I think in 2023, we have not really seen a huge impact yet, since we have only started, let's say, dedicated teams in the beginning of 2023. So, we expect that this, let's say, standardization and also the efficiencies, the cost down programs that we're continuously running in our factories will continue to have a positive impact. What we have to consider is that in the past years, and I mean, that's not only in the past few years, that was more or less ever since ever I joined SKAN, the same situation, that the euro used to be 1.50, right now it's something like 0.90. And we have still, let's say, always reinvented ourselves and, and gain efficiency specifically, since all our competitors are euro companies.
So from that point of view, we do this, we think it, I mean, it does have a very positive impact, but we also have net impact that like currency, like, for example, currency like inflation. So from that point of view, if you ask us about a, let's say, when do we expect that the margin will significantly move upwards, right? It will actually be when we launch the new services to the market, which will be in 2026.
Okay. Maybe just on this topic of launching the pre-approved services. So you said that everything is basically on track, right? I mean, to be launched in 2026.
Yeah.
You expect regulatory approval, sometime next year, I think.
Yeah. End of the year.
Yes. I'm just... Could you please just remind us again in terms of what the peak sales potential you expect? I mean, because I have in mind that you're expecting around CHF 50 million annual sales once it's you know, fully running.
Yeah. The fitting suit in the current execution that we plan to go live in 2026 should be able to bring about this capacity, as we mentioned during the IPO. Yes, of course, if this business model works well, we will continue to expand, and we're already thinking about expanding towards North America since this is where most of our customers are.
Mm-hmm. Thank you.
There will be also a ramp-up phase, so it's not CHF 50 million from beginning of 2026. Of course, it will take time also there, so it will have a ramp-up phase down the road. So 2026 will be the first impact and then ramping it up down the road.
How fast would you expect this ramp up to take place? So in which year would you expect to reach the peak?
We expect that this will take a few years to go up to full speed. To be very, very frank, right, if we would be ready today, we could probably fill the full facility on day one with GLP-1. So it also depends on the market environment. And looking at the demand for GLP-1, GLP-1s and let's say the lack of production capacity for GLP-1s, I'm pretty positive that we probably can ramp up a little bit faster than we originally planned. But that's speculation, right? I mean, that's an assumption that from today's point of view, we can take, yeah.
Okay, thank you. Maybe, maybe just one final question on my side. It has to do with the CapEx in 2023. So you mentioned that most of the CapEx was basically invested in pre-approved services. So is it fair to assume that this is 100% of the CHF 35 million was invested in pre-approved services or it was 90%? What was the exact percentage?
So I would... It's not the majority, but let me check.
... It was about 40% in pre-approved service out of the certified business.
As you know, we have also mentioned that we will invest about CHF 70 million in pre-approved services initiative. Currently we have orders placed to our suppliers for about 60%. But the cash out will took place in 2023. The majority cash out will take place in 2024, as the equipment will be delivered, let's say, in mid of the year or in the second half of the year, then we will have also the majority of the cash out in 2024.
Thank you. That's all on my side. Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. For our webcast participants, you can ask a question via the webcast task function by pressing the question mark icon. Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further audio questions at this time. We will proceed now with the questions from our webcast participants.
Thank you, operator. We have a question from [inaudible] , Clearwater Capital, who's asking: how do you protect profits against inflation in your customer contracts, given the order backlog of roughly one year?
Yeah, that's a very good question. Now, what we do actually, when we first of all, we try to sell in Swiss francs. And still the majority of our customers, they buy in Swiss francs. If for those companies who do not buy in Swiss francs, we actually hedge the money, so to make sure that at least the currency that we got on day one is keeping the value. But we also buy the expensive long lead items very much upfront or basically plus minus within same timeline where we got the PO, so that we have a very little exposure to inflation on that side.
So from that side, I think we can also say that, when we look at the way we have currently, we have a certain natural hedge in the group, with cost in euro, cost in dollars, and cost in Swiss francs, and income in all three different currencies, and not to forget, Japanese yen. Today, we can say, if the euro loses 10% against the Swiss franc, the impact for SKAN is about 4%, 3%-4%, which is literally the salary cost in Swiss francs.
There's a second question from Edward Bottomley, from Columbia Threadneedle, who's asking: Given the strong margin performance in 2023, why do you expect margins to decline in 2024, despite benefiting from operating leverage and its effects?
We have to understand that we still do 76% of our sales in equipment and solutions. Equipment and solutions is still a lumpy project business, where it very much depends on the different project phases, how they contribute to the EBIT. Service and consumables are obviously more attractive on the margin side and are also more stable on the margin side, but they are only 24% of the total of our total sales. When we discussed the guidance for 2024, it was a discussion, should we now go to 14-16%? Looking at the economic environment, looking at the fact that customers do not as easily spend money as they used to do a year or two years ago, we said we want to stay conservative.
We stay on 13%-15%, since this has, this project business has the biggest effect there, still has a big effect there. And we are happy to inform you guys in after summer, when we have a better feeling of how the year will turn out.
There's another question from Iana Perova, from DECALIA, who's asking: How do we see the competitive landscape changing with the acquisition of Dover by Ingersoll Rand, announced yesterday?
I mean, Dover is not a competitor of ours. I mean, Dover, they make equipment. They are also making equipment for pharmaceutical industry. They also make isolators, but if those isolators they make are only for containment, and we have hardly any interfaces to them. So I don't think it will have any impact on us, or at least from today's point of view, I don't see an impact.
Okay, these are our currently all questions that came in via webcast. Operator, do we have additional questions from telephone conference? Simone.
Sir, we have an audio question that has just come in. The next question is from the man of Manuel Peter, with Helvetische Bank . I'm following the line. Thank you.
Yes. Hi, guys. I have one question regarding to your success rate. You mentioned in the press release, which was at around 50%. So I was just wondering on how the success rate compares to the success rate in previous years, like in 2022 or 2021, and if the enhanced lead times had a negative impact on this success rate?
Yes, thank you for your question. So our—we call it our order win rate. The order win rate, prior to COVID, was around 30%-40%. During COVID, we were up to, right in, up to 80%. It stabilized, then for last year, it was somewhere around 50%-60%, and now it is somewhere again, back down to what it was prior to COVID. And yes, one of the reasons is definitely the lead time that actually made us lose some orders, some projects.
So from that point of view, the more normal lead times will now give us a new tailwind again, to yeah, to at least keep on top and make sure that we get enough orders to stay on top and to stay number one.
Okay. And, maybe with regards to that, besides the lead times, what are the other reasons that a customer or a potential customer might choose not to go with SKAN and instead goes with a competitor?
I mean, one of the main reasons is price. I mean, we are up to 30% and sometimes even 50% more expensive than our competitors. Now, it's difficult, right, to compare apples to oranges, but in the end, both of them are fruits, and so some customers don't really understand the difference. So that's the main reason why they would not go with us. Then, another reason can also be that if you have been working with Optima for the last 20 years and you are happy, and, why should you change the supplier? I mean, yes, we have those customers out there, and, as we have customers that never change from SKAN, so, that's the point.
But I think, I think from a technical point of view, from a reputational point of view, we still are the number one. And if you can afford a SKAN isolator, then probably your first choice would be SKAN. And if you can live with our lead times.
Okay, perfect. Thanks, you guys.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would like now to turn the conference back to Thomas Huber for any closing remarks.
Okay, thank you very much. I would like to say thank you for participating in this call. I hope we were able to answer all your questions. And, yeah, thank you for your support. You are an important part of SKAN, and I'm happy to have you on board and looking forward to see you again in the near future. Thank you. Goodbye.
Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Chorus Call, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.