During the second quarter of financial year 2021/2022, Heidelberg has built on the encouraging developments of the first three months.
Market recovery continued in virtually all regions compared with the previous year. The group’s half-year sales increased by 22% to €983million (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.
During the current reporting period, Heidelberg benefited from rising sales, far better cost-efficiency, and earnings of more than €20m from the sale of Docufy, which does not form part of the company’s core business operations.
“The highly positive developments in our growth areas and our improved cost-efficiency underline that Heidelberg is doing very well,” said CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer.
“Despite the clearly evident problems in the supply chain at present, we are therefore confident about this year and the years to come,” comments Heidelberg CEO
Heidelberg is benefiting from continued high growth in its largest single market, China, partly due to the company’s well-established local production operations. The recovery of demand is also based on product innovations such as the new Speedmaster CX 104 universal press, which met with a very positive response at both China Print in June and the Innovation Days in Wiesloch in October. In packaging printing, too, Heidelberg has seen high demand during the half-year, with incoming orders up more than 36% on the previous year.
The financial partnership entered into with Munich Re on November 8 for digital business models will set the course for future growth. This collaboration is intended to fully harness the global market potential of the subscription options offered by Heidelberg and significantly boost the volume of business in this area.
As for new technology offerings, the success of wallboxes for e-mobility continues to stand out, with international expansion gaining further momentum. Following launches in Austria and Switzerland, Heidelberg will soon also be offering its charging solutions in France, Poland, and Hungary. In response to the dynamic growth in demand, the fourth wallbox production line was taken into operation ahead of schedule. Wallbox sales during the half-year have thus tripled and are making a far bigger contribution to the overall result, despite expenditure on product innovation and capacity expansion.
Positive developments in growth areas, the focus on the profitable core business, and consistent implementation of measures to realign the company will be the dominant features at Heidelberg over the next few years, with total cost savings of more than €170m expected in financial year 2022/2023.