While sales also increased thanks to price increases, operating profit fell due to the payment of an inflation compensation bonus to the workforce. In addition, the company had benefited from the sale of a property in Great Britain in the same period of the previous year. Adjusted for these effects, for example, the result increased year-on-year.
“We had a positive third quarter and were able to further increase our sales and operating result,” said company boss Ludwin Monz on Wednesday, according to the announcement. Looking ahead, the next few months will continue to be characterized by expected increases in the costs of materials, energy and personnel. The company will continue to counteract this with price increases and maintain its cost discipline. Job cuts are currently not planned, Monz said in a conference call. He is confident that the group will achieve its targets for the year.
Accordingly, sales should continue to grow from 2.18 billion euros in the previous year to around 2.3 billion. The operating margin (Ebitda margin) should be at least 8 percent of sales and thus above the previous year’s figure of 7.3 percent. After taxes, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen wants to increase at least slightly compared to the 33 million euros profit from the previous year.
Analyst Peter Rothenaicher from Baader Bank described the confirmed annual targets as conservative, since the current fourth business quarter is typically the strongest in terms of sales and margins of the year as a whole and the one-off personnel cost effect will no longer occur. In addition, Heidelberger Druck is much more crisis-proof than in the past. The economic slowdown does not worry the expert in view of the solid order intake and the already full order books.
In the third business quarter to the end of December, sales climbed by around five percent year-on-year to EUR 609 million. While business with printing machines for the packaging industry developed much better and revenue in the Print Solutions division also increased, revenue in the third division, Technology Solutions, was well below the previous year’s figure. Here, among other things, the reluctance to buy wall boxes due to the long delivery times for electric vehicles and the expiry of the subsidy programs in Germany made themselves felt.
Despite the recent decline in sales in the wallbox business, Monz believes electromobility to be the concept of the future. There is a strong political will in Germany, but also at the European level. “We will definitely see growth in the field of electromobility over the next few years,” said the manager. Electromobility requires infrastructure and Heidelberg is working on that. The company is in an interesting market there and will continue to invest. You have to be patient, he added.
Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) fell by 28 percent to 41 million euros. Adjusted for special effects, the operating result would have increased from 31 to 49 million euros. After taxes, profit fell from 27 to 10 million euros in the third business quarter. At the end of the quarter, the order backlog was almost one billion euros.
Regarding investing in China, he said, “I think we’ve all learned that we’re well advised to either avoid or reduce dependency.” Heidelberg produces in China for the country itself and for a number of other Asian countries, but is not dependent on China. The company can also produce the same products in Germany. Against the background of geopolitical uncertainties, it is a good strategy to remain flexible.
Heidelberger Druck share contains initial losses
The shares of the printing press manufacturer Heidelberger Druck only fell sharply for a short time on Wednesday after quarterly figures. They fell 9.7 percent in early trading to the bottom of the SDAX small-cap index, slipping just below the 21-day moving average line, which ultimately held up as support. Most recently, however, the paper limited its losses to 1.62 percent and was quoted at EUR 1.95. Heidelberger Druck has still gained around 30 percent in value in the new year.
The order intake of the printing machine manufacturer in the first nine months of the current fiscal year is clear and the turnover is at least a little above the consensus estimates, the margin, on the other hand, is just below, commented a dealer. While sales increased in the past quarter, also thanks to price increases, operating profit fell due to the payment of an inflation compensation bonus to the workforce.
The next few months would continue to be characterized by expected cost increases in material, energy and personnel, said company boss Ludwin Monz on Wednesday according to the announcement. Nevertheless, he is confident that Heidelberger Druck will achieve its targets for the year and referred to price increases and cost discipline.
Analyst Peter Rothenaicher from Baader Bank described the confirmed annual targets as conservative, since the current fourth business quarter is typically the strongest in terms of sales and margins of the year as a whole and the one-off personnel cost effect will no longer occur. In addition, Heidelberger Druck is much more crisis-proof than in the past. The economic slowdown does not worry the expert in view of the solid order intake and the already full order books.
HEIDELBERG / FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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