The new press shop as part of the joint venture with
Porsche will set new standards for the automotive
industry both in terms of performance in industrial
manufacturing and in the digital networking of data
streams in the production process.
million. Schuler achieved consolidated earnings after
tax of € 13.5 (67.4) million.
Cautious optimism for 2019 and beyond
At the end of 2018, Schuler’s equity capital ratio of
40.1 (38.1) percent of the balance sheet total was still
above average in the German mechanical and plant
engineering sector. The company employed 6,575
(6,570) people worldwide, 4,195 (4,237) of them
in Germany – which is barely any fewer than in the
previous year.
CFO Norbert Broger said: “2018 was a very
challenging year in terms of operation and strategy.
This is why it was all the more important that we
were able to reverse the negative trend in incoming
orders and achieve an increase of ten percent for the
first time. We therefore entered the new year with
a decent order backlog of € 926 million. Therefore,
and thanks to the cost reduction measures already
initiated, we are confident that we will be able to
show medium-term earnings improvements”.
Concentration on the profitable core business
Irrespective of the positive order development,
the pressure to adapt remains high, especially in
Germany, said CEO Iacovelli. “In 2018, we therefore
began making Schuler more dynamic and bringing
customer-driven innovations to market more quickly.
The aim is to concentrate on the Group’s profitable
core business and increase profitability in the coming
years. This includes the consistent segregation of
loss-making business areas wherever necessary”.
In recent months, Schuler has developed new product
strategies for each business division. Expensive
“over-engineering” needs to be a thing of the past.
Schuler has already decided to withdraw from the
unprofitable production of packaging machines and
lines for the production of large-diameter pipes in
2019.
Expansion of service business and value
creation in China
Cost benefits in production in China and Brazil
TUBE NEWS
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April 2019
15