During the second quarter of financial year 2021/2022 (July 1 to September 30, 2021), Heidelberg has built on the encouraging developments of the first three months.
The market recovery continued in virtually all regions compared with the previous year and, as already announced, the Group’s transformation is making a big contribution to improving the operating result. The Group’s half-year sales increased by 22% to €983m (previous year: €805m). The EBITDA figure of €75m was also up on the previous year (€67m), even though the first half of the previous year was positively influenced by earnings from the restructuring of retirement provision amounting to €73m, the sale of a subsidiary (€8m), and the widespread use of short-time working.
“The highly positive developments in our growth areas and our improved cost-efficiency underline that Heidelberg is doing well. We also see great potential for the future thanks to our leading position in China and in the areas of digital business models, e-mobility, and packaging printing. In addition to all this, our break-even point will continue to fall. Despite the clearly evident problems in the supply chain at present, we are therefore confident about this year and the years to come,” comments Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO.
The encouraging developments during the first half-year are based on further improved cost-efficiency and also on continuing progress in the Group’s growth areas including packaging printing, digital business models, China, and new technology applications. In packaging printing, Heidelberg has seen high demand during the half-year, with incoming orders up over 36% on the previous year.
