Heidelberg confirms Drupa success with strongest start to financial year in four years

- Drupa provides springboard for growth in second half of year

 

- Q1 orders combined with high sales in Q4 2011/12 push order backlog up

 

German machinery manufacturer Heidelberg has confirmed that Drupa has had a positive impact on its performance, and will continue to do so as the 2012/13 financial year progresses.

 

Heidelberg said incoming orders for the first quarter of its current financial year increased to €890 million from €665 million in the previous year’s opening quarter. This was the highest level reported for four years.

 

The company had previously detailed its hopes for the impact of Drupa when reporting its 2011/12 full-year results in mid-June.

 

For the first quarter of the 2012/13 year, sales were down slightly year-on-year at €520 million from €544 million. In the final quarter of the previous financial year, Heidelberg recorded its highest quarterly sales for three years at €785 million.

 

This lower figure was a result of customers' reluctance to invest in the run-up to Drupa, Heidelberg said.

 

Thanks to high incoming orders in the first quarter, the preliminary order backlog is now well up on the previous quarter at around €850 million.

 

Lower profit contributions resulting from the lower sales in the first quarter, plus the cost of preparing for Drupa and launching new products, had a negative impact on the preliminary result of operating activities excluding special items.

 

In the first quarter, it was around a loss of €58 million, against a loss of €25 million the year before.

 

However, as a result of Drupa, Heidelberg is expecting sales to show a distinct shift to the second half of the financial year with a corresponding improvement in profit contributions.

 

The company implemented the main measures of the Focus 2012 efficiency program before Drupa, which means up to a third of the planned annual savings of €180 million will take effect during the current financial year.

 

Heidelberg is still expecting to achieve a clearly positive result of operating activities excluding special items for the 2012/13 financial year.

 

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