JENA (dpa-AFX) - The technology group Jenoptik intends to pay its shareholders a higher dividend for 2023. Investors are to receive 35 cents per share, 5 cents more than a year earlier, as the company announced on Wednesday in Jena on the presentation of its final annual figures. On balance, the profit attributable to shareholders increased by almost a third to around 72.5 million euros. Jenoptik had already announced key figures in February, which the Group has now confirmed. The company specified its annual targets for 2024.

Jenoptik is again expecting growth in the current year due to good business with the semiconductor industry. In view of the order backlog and order intake, sales are expected to increase by a mid-single-digit percentage. Of this, 19.5 to 20 percent is expected to remain as an operating result (EBITDA). This includes an expected charge of around 0.5 percentage points for the relocation to the new semiconductor site in Dresden. In the previous year, the margin amounted to 19.7 percent.

In 2023, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 14% year-on-year to 210 million euros, as already announced. The corresponding margin rose from 18.8% in the previous year to 19.7%. The Thuringian company's turnover climbed by nine percent to around 1.07 billion euros. Incoming orders fell by around 8 percent to 1.09 billion euros./mne/jha/