As a result of the continued recovery of the markets in almost all regions as well as Management’s success in transforming the company, Heidelberg has reported significant improvements in both its sales and operating profitability in first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022).
According to Heidelberg in a press release, sales figures between April and June grew by 20% year-on-year to €530m, with the increase largely attributed to the rise in the number of new machines delivered. Europe and North America recorded particularly positive developments, it added, although results in China were sometimes weaker compared to the previous year due to the extensive lockdowns in economically relevant cities.
Incoming orders of €607m in the first quarter showed a return to the pre-pandemic 2019/2020 level of €615m, even though business in China was curbed by the two-month COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, and the war in Ukraine that has resulted in weaker demand in Eastern Europe. It was therefore not possible to reach the previous year’s high figure of €652m. However, the firm’s order backlog saw a further increase of 15% during the first quarter, totalling €969m as at 30 June 2022.
But thanks to higher sales and the ongoing reduction of structural costs, Heidelberg significantly improved its EBITDA in the first quarter, recording an increase of €20m to €35m. The company said it was possible to pass on sustained increases in material costs. “The positive start to the new financial year gives us cause to be cautiously optimistic as we look forward,” said CEO – Ludwin Monz while noting further that; “Provided there is no downturn in the general economic environment, we are confident we will reach the annual targets we have set. We will support our growth by expanding our products and services for digital printing in the label market and launching new, networking-capable wallboxes in the electromobility sector.” In all, profitability is also expected to improve further as it forecasts further improvement in its EBITDA margin, to at least 8% for the 2022/23 financial year (NOTE: 2021/2022 was 7.3%). The net result after taxes is also expected to increase slightly compared to the 2021/22 figure of €33m.
