Koenig & Bauer – H1 2022

At €491.8m at the end of the first six months, Koenig & Bauer‘s revenue was virtually unchanged over the previous year and well above the industry average.

In terms of the individual quarters, revenue in the second quarter was higher than in the same quarter of the previous year as well as the first quarter of 2022. With respect to earnings, the higher cost of materials and energy was almost completely offset by the price increases that had been announced. However, the proportion of inefficient production costs widened in the second quarter due to worldwide disruptions to supply chains. They are also necessitating additional or retro work on systems and presses and exerting strain on productivity at the plants and on site at the customers.

The central purchasing system introduced under the P24x efficiency programme is also paying off given the disrupted global supply chains. Generally speaking, successful progress was made with the P24x programme in the first half of the year, resulting in savings of around €22m. At €-13.8m, Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were still in negative territory. The previous year’s figure of €6.4m had been boosted by an amount of €21.3m resulting from the more efficient implementation of the P24x personnel measures and stood at €-14.9m in operating terms. Accordingly, operating EBIT improved by €1.1m, corresponding to an operating EBIT margin of -2.8%, compared with -3.0% in the previous year. After income taxes, the Group posted a net loss of €-15.8m as of 30 June 2022 (previous year: net profit of €1.1m). .

The second half of the year continues to be marked by great uncertainties. The global disruptions to supply chains are just as unpredictable as the geopolitical situation and high inflation in Europe and the United States and could place a damper on the global economy in the second half of the year. This is exacerbated by the currently unknown course of the pandemic in the winter months. The planned delivery of presses and systems for the second half of 2022 poses a major challenge and must be reassessed if the global supply chain situation continues to deteriorate. Accordingly, the company says it is still not possible to provide a reliable full-year forecast for 2022 as of the date on which the report on the first half of the year was completed; Koenig & Bauer continues to anticipate a slight year-on-year increase in Group operating revenue and the operating EBIT margin in 2022 and confirms its medium-term targets.

Dr Stephen Kimmich, CFO, Koenig & Bauer, says, “Despite all the external uncertainties, we feel well positioned to achieve our goals for 2022 as a basis for reaching our medium-term goals.”

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