In its latest financial report, HEIDELBERG says that its sales are in line with previous year’s level after three quarters and following adjustment for exchange rate movements.
Adjusted EBITDA margin has risen to 8.0%, although incoming orders have been weaker in third quarter after strong first half-year.
The development of sales and EBITDA is within the expected range for financial year 2023/2024. After three quarters (April 1 – December 31, 2023), the company achieved sales of €1.686 bn, thanks primarily to growth in the packaging segment. Following adjustment for exchange rate movements, this figure matches the previous year’s level (€1.729 bn). The adjusted operating result (EBITDA) was an improvement on the same period of the previous year, with the figure after three quarters amounting to €135m (adjusted result for previous year: €125m). The corresponding adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 8.0% (previous year: 7.2%), whereby there were no special items to be adjusted in the current financial year. The net result after taxes after nine months remained clearly positive at €34m. Compared with the previous year (€54m), higher tax expenditure, increased pension-related interest costs, and the lack of positive special items had a bearing on the result.
Following the good first half-year, incoming orders in the third quarter of the financial year reflected the economic climate. Overall, they were significantly weaker at €1.692 bn (previous year: €1.859 bn). While the development of service business was stable, one particular adverse effect was the downturn in equipment business in North America and EMEA. Another reason for this downturn besides the weaker economic climate is that some customers are waiting for interest rates to drop in the short term and for innovations at drupa. Heidelberg is actively countering the weaker market development by initiating measures that will have a financial impact. In the light of lower incoming orders, the company has been implementing short-time working in parts of its operations at several production sites since January 2024.
The forecast for financial year 2023/2024 remains as published on June 14, 2023. Assuming the global economy develops as predicted by the economic research institutions, the company is still expecting sales in financial year 2023/2024 to match the previous year’s figure. The adjusted EBITDA margin is also anticipated to remain at the previous year’s level.
