New day for Heidelberg

After two years in the red, Heidelberg moves back into the black with increased orders and sales recorded in financial year 2010/2011.

Group sales climbed 14 per cent to EUR 2.629b (AUD 3.525b) compared to last year’s sales of EUR 2.306b (AUD 3.092b). China now leads in sales share with around 16 percent, followed closely by Germany, which holds 15 per cent.

Incoming orders rose around 16 per cent to EUR 2.757b (AUD 3.696b), over last years EUR 2.371b (AUD 3.179b).

Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberg says the Group has achieved targets set for this financial year and is back on a growth path. “This once again proves that we have adopted the right strategy - competitive products and services, a strong presence on emerging markets, a commitment to less cyclical areas such as services and consumables, and an expansion of business with packaging print shops.

“We will continue to systematically implement this successful strategy during the current financial year and gradually build up to our medium-term target of sales exceeding EUR 3 billion and a return on sales of more than 5 percent.”

Next years figures are forecast to be greater due to drupa 2012 and a continued upswing in the print industry. “If favourable trends continue into the year of the drupa trade show, we expect our after-tax result to be in the black in financial year 2012/2013,” said Schreier (pictured).

Emerging markets contributed to strong growth in the print industry, with total sales increasing from 42 to 45 per cent. Operating activities over the past year, excluding special items, have brought Heidelberg from EUR -130m up to EUR 4m (AUD 5.364m). Special items in this financial year total EUR 2m (AUD 2.68m).

Orders within the equipment division rose 24 per cent over last year at EUR 1,642m (AUD 2,200m), this represents an increase of around 19 per cent after taking exchange rate movements into consideration.
Sales within this division also climbed 19 per cent to EUR 1,516m (AUD 2,032m), or around 14 per cent.

According to Heidelberg, this financial result will have a substantially less dampening effect than during the reporting year, largely due to its reduction in debt.