COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Hundsdorfer leaves a viable legacy
Heidelberg increases operating profitability in Q3
Heidelberg reports that in the third quarter of the financial year 2021 / 2022 ( 1 October to 31 December 2021 ), its order situation still recovered further . It is not clear how much this recovery is from the pent-up demand of previous quarters . Although the company is expecting to return to profit in the financial year ending in March 2022 it may take several quarters to understand the real state of the company and the industry .
The results are an endorsement of the bold steps by outgoing chief executive officer Rainer Hundsdorfer who among other things , completed the recovery initiated by Gerald Linzbach and dared to stop the R & D on the B1 digital press project which was begun during Linzbach ’ s tenure . Hundsdorfer also tried unsuccessfully to sell Gallus but was able to divest several bits and pieces including land in his firm bid to make the company viable . Hundsdorfer ’ s commitment to the company ’ s expansion in China is also a significant realization and reality check on a company that often gets carried away by its pride in ‘ German metallurgy and engineering .’ Innovations such as the subscription model are slowly growing but the jury is still out on this in markets such as India . Overall his reduction of the company ’ s debt to just EURO 6 million seems remarkable to longtime observers who have seen the company struggle to streamline itself .
In any case , according to the company ’ s press release , the group ’ s transformation project has led to a clear improvement in its operating result , with incoming orders in the third quarter increasing by 16 % to EURO 643 million . For the ninemonth period , the figure is EURO 1,888 million , which is 33 % higher than in the previous year . The higher-
Rainer Hundsdorfer , outgoing chief executive officer , Heidelberg
order backlog of EURO 951 million at the end of the quarter even exceeded the pre-pandemic level .
Sales were also up on the previous year – by 20 % at EURO 582 million for the third quarter and by 21 % at EURO 1,565 million for the ninemonth period . EBITDA rose significantly in the third quarter , by 36 % to EURO 57 million . EBITDA after nine months amounted to EURO 132 million , which is 21 % higher than in the previous year . The operating improvement was primarily due to an increased business volume and better margins as a result of the transformation according to the company . While the availability of parts is creating challenges across the industry , Heidelberg says it has largely managed to overcome these by approving alternative components and coordinating closely with suppliers .
Besides the substantial operating improvements , earnings from the sale of docufy ( around EURO 22 million ) and a property in the UK ( EURO 26 million ) provided a further boost during the current reporting period . EBIT after three quarters totaled EURO 74 million ( previous year - EURO 50 million ). Thanks to the higher EBIT and the very significant improvement in the financial result , from EURO – 35 million to EURO – 24 million , the net result before taxes increased from EURO 15 million to EURO 50 million . After taxes , Heidelberg recorded a profit of EURO 40 million after nine months , following a figure of EURO 3 million in the previous year .
“ The success of our efforts to transform Heidelberg is becoming ever clearer . Our core business is doing well thanks to our high level of innovation and our focus on customer benefits , and our digital business models are making a key contribution , too . What ’ s more , the dynamic growth in demand for electromobility solutions continues unabated . In this sector , we are systematically pressing ahead with our expansion outside Germany and , in the future , we will continue the
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Indian Printer & Publisher | 1 March 2022