However, as May 2018 had two (2) working days less, total sales were down 6.3 percent from May 2017.
YTD, sales figures increased with a total of five percent, as growth has continued since the beginning of 2017.
Order intake shows a similar picture. In May 2018, figures per working day were 14.2 percent lower than those recored in May 2017. The reasons for the 2017 boom were orders that had shifted from Asia to Europe due to the shortage of copper foil and laminates in the Far East.
Cumulatively over the first five months of 2018, order intake remained almost two percent below figures recorded for the previous year. This points to a cautious order behaviour from EMS-providers due to persistent component shortages.
The book-to-bill ratio for May 2018 stood at 0.90.
Despite the current uncertainty, the number of employees in May was three percent up from May 2017.