Global press giant Heidleberg has posted a €60 million turnaround in its third quarter profit after a strategic shift that increased focus on its digital and services divisions.
Global press giant Heidleberg has posted a €60 million turnaround in its third quarter profit after a strategic shift that increased focus on its digital and services divisions.
“We’ve made good progress with our goal of ensuring long-term profitability,” said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach. “Our new portfolio is more closely geared toward stable market segments, is more profitable, and creates the conditions for further growth.”
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) reported a Q3 net profit after taxes of € 7 million, compared to a loss of € 53 million the previous year. Total sales after nine months were up 16% to € 1.8 billion (compared to the previous year’s € 1.55 billion), with the company’s services business recording € 288 million of Q3 sales. Sales after nine months were well up in North America and Europe and encouraging in the Asia/Pacific region, while Eastern Europe and Latin America remained stable but conditions in China – Heidelberg’s biggest market - were described as ‘very subdued’, with a fall in orders. Heidelberg is aiming for sales growth of two to four percent, after adjustment for exchange rates, in the current financial year 2015/2016.
CFO Dirk Kaliebe said the company had “created the financial scope to finance acquisitions and invest in growth and innovation. In the future, we will keep working on further optimizing our financing framework and ensuring the continued strategic development.”
It’s a similar story at Heidleberg Australia, with MD Richard Timson reporting a solid performance from all three local divisions – services, consumables and equipment.
“Things are going well,” Timson said. “We’ve had some very good installs this year and more machines are being installed in the 4th quarter, which is looking strong. The industry seems to have levelled out a bit. The thing we’d like to see is a little more stability in the general economy. If we can get that humming, then the printing industry will continue to move in a much better direction.”
Heidelberg Australia just moved Gallus Oceania, the label printing and folding carton presses manufacturer, into its east Melbourne facility, after German-based Heidelberg acquired Swiss manufacturer Gallus last year. “We moved Gallus in last week and we’re in the process of completing our cross training of staff,” said Timson. “From 1 April, the local Gallus operation will officially become a unit of Heidelberg Australia. There’s not too much equipment involved as most of the Gallus machinery is shipped directly to customers from Switzerland but there will be spare parts and consumables.”
Heidelberg at drupa
At the drupa trade show in May this year, Heidelberg plans to present smart services and networked products required for further industry digitisation.
The digitized print shop of the future will feature automated, cost-optimized production processes and equipment that works almost entirely independently and autonomously. Over 10,000 presses have already been installed and networked worldwide, creating the basis for innovative data-based services. Heidelberg will also be joining forces with its cooperation partner Fujifilm to unveil a new, highly productive inkjet-based digital printing system for industrial applications. It is the only supplier to offer customers the opportunity to run offset and digital technologies in parallel based on a user-friendly, integrated process.