Comet Holding AG (SIX: COTN) closed the first half of 2026 with net sales of CHF 239.8 million and an order book growing faster than its shipments. The Flamatt based maker of plasma control modules and x-ray systems, which employs more than 1,800 people worldwide including about 700 in Switzerland, published the figures on 31 July 2026 as an ad hoc announcement and set full-year guidance of CHF 540 million to CHF 570 million in net sales.

What the half-year numbers show

Group net sales rose 5.6% from CHF 227.2 million in the restated prior-year period. In constant currency the increase was 12.7%, a gap of more than seven percentage points that is entirely a translation effect: the report shows an average USD rate of 0.787 Swiss francs for the six months to 30 June 2026 against 0.863 a year earlier, and an average KRW rate of 0.531 per thousand won against 0.605.

The shape of the half mattered more than the total. Second-quarter net sales of CHF 133.5 million were 25.7% above the CHF 106.3 million recorded in the first quarter. EBITDA rose 36.5% to CHF 31.4 million from a restated CHF 23.0 million, lifting the margin to 13.1% from 10.1%. Net income, stated in the report in thousands of Swiss francs, was 13,478 against a restated 10,100, and diluted and basic earnings per share came to CHF 1.73 from CHF 1.30.

Incoming orders are the line that changed most. The reconciliation in the half-year report puts orders received, in thousands of Swiss francs, at 354,843 for the six months to 30 June 2026 against 222,947 a year earlier, producing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.48 compared with 0.98 in the restated comparative period. The ratio had stood at 1.36 after the first three months of 2026.

Cash moved the other way. Free cash flow was negative CHF 19.3 million against positive CHF 1.3 million a year earlier. Capital expenditure of CHF 29.4 million, against CHF 12.1 million a year earlier, went to completing the new Penang building and to building selective inventories for volume expansion. In the balance sheet, again in thousands of Swiss francs, inventories climbed to 113,699 at 30 June 2026 from 89,481 at the end of 2025 while cash and cash equivalents fell to 69,792 from 96,587. Comet also refinanced during the period, repaying 60,000 of borrowings and drawing 59,649 of new third-party debt, which moved its interest-bearing debt from current to non-current. Equity attributable to shareholders stood at 320,324, or 60.4% of total assets of 530,140.

Divisional detail and the one-time costs

Plasma Control Technologies, the semiconductor-facing division, lifted net sales 6.9% to CHF 143.6 million, or 15.0% in constant currency, with EBITDA of CHF 28.9 million and a margin of 20.2%. Comet says the division carried a book-to-bill ratio above the group average and is ramping production capacity, with demand for wafer fabrication equipment used in NAND flash memory manufacturing now adding to AI-driven demand.

The two x-ray divisions moved differently. X-Ray Systems held net sales flat at CHF 48.7 million, up 6.6% in constant currency, while narrowing its EBITDA loss to CHF 4.0 million from CHF 7.5 million and improving its margin to negative 8.2% from negative 15.4%. The company attributes the improvement to restructuring carried out in the final quarter of 2025 and says the break-even point for its CA20 system remains projected for 2028. X-Ray Modules grew net sales 10.6% to CHF 53.5 million, or 15.5% in constant currency, but EBITDA rose only 3.7% to CHF 8.6 million and the margin slipped to 16.1% from 17.2% on currency movements.

Group EBITDA absorbed one-time costs of CHF 4.5 million tied to the ramp-up of the Penang facility in Malaysia and to an efficiency improvement programme. Comet expects those two initiatives to reduce the full-year 2026 EBITDA margin by approximately 3 percentage points. The efficiency programme is expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2027 and to produce a sustainable EBITDA improvement of CHF 20 million to CHF 30 million a year from 2028. Construction at Penang was completed during the second quarter of 2026 and the plant is planned to be fully operational by 2027.

Chief executive Stephan Haferl said in the announcement: “The first half of the year highlighted the strength of our business model and disciplined execution.”

Analysis: an order book that has run ahead of the income statement

The single most informative figure in this release is not net sales but incoming orders. At 354,843 thousand Swiss francs against 222,947 a year earlier, that is the difference between a book-to-bill of 1.48 and one of 0.98. A ratio below one means the company was shipping out of backlog in the first half of 2025; a ratio near 1.5 means half of what has been ordered this year is still undelivered. The reported 5.6% sales growth therefore describes what Comet could build and invoice, not what its customers asked for. On the guidance range of CHF 540 million to CHF 570 million, the second half carries the bulk of the year.

That framing explains the cash statement. Free cash flow turned negative because capital expenditure more than doubled to CHF 29.4 million and inventories rose between December and June. Both movements sit on the asset side of the balance sheet: the spending went into the Penang building and into inventory, not into funding a shortfall. The refinancing supports the same reading: the repayment of 60,000 matched by 59,649 of new borrowing pushed the maturity out without adding leverage, and equity still covered 60.4% of total assets.

The comparison with a year ago is worth stating precisely because the base has moved twice. First, the 2025 interim figures were restated: an inventory write-down error of CHF 2.1 million and CHF 0.3 million of unrecognised expenses originating in 2024 lifted restated first-half 2025 EBITDA to 22,978 thousand Swiss francs from 20,708 as originally reported. A reader comparing this year’s EBITDA growth with the number published in July 2025 will get a different percentage from the 36.5% in this report. Second, guidance a year ago was cut to CHF 460 million to CHF 500 million of net sales at a 10.0% to 14.0% EBITDA margin; the new range sits above that on both measures.

What the disclosure does not establish is delivery. The order book, the Penang ramp and the efficiency programme all pay off in periods that have not been reported yet, and the margin guidance of 14.0% to 17.0% already carries roughly 3 percentage points of one-off drag. The trading update scheduled for 20 October 2026 is the next point at which order intake and the sales run rate can be compared again.

Under Art. 53 of the SIX listing rules, annual and interim reports of issuers with primary listed equity securities under Art. 49 and Art. 50 must always be distributed with an ad hoc announcement, without the case-by-case price-sensitivity assessment that applies to other facts. The Directive on Ad hoc Publicity, in force since 1 December 2025, requires distribution to SIX Exchange Regulation 90 minutes ahead of publication during trading hours, to at least two electronic information systems widely used by professional market participants and to at least two Swiss media of national importance, and requires the issuer to keep every ad hoc announcement on its own website for three years.