Heidelberg has enjoyed a boost to orders as economies bounce back from lockdowns. And the UK is singled out for achieving an increase in orders of around 50%. It does not say from what level in the interim statement issued last week.
The UK’s performance is better than average. Overall, orders in the first six months of the financial year increased 44%, with sales rising 22% for the same period. It covers the virtual Drupa period and the real life Print China show, where Heidelberg introduced the Speedmaster CX104. It is a replacement for the CX102, featuring technology ported from the XL series machines and positioned as “the universal press”. Heidelberg has taken orders amounting to 1,000 print units for the new press, half placed before the launch in June, half in three months since.
Sales in Q2 were significantly above those in Q1 and amounted to a 22% increase over the pandemic-hit first six months of the 2020/21 financial year, reaching €983 million.
This, in combination with cost saving measures and €20 million from the sale of Docufy, delivered an Ebitda of €75 million (€67 million) and a post tax profit of €13 million rather than a €9 million loss. Cost saving measures included a workforce cull, reducing the headcount by around 1,000 to a total of 9,925. This will bear fruit in future periods.
The announcement boosted the share price to €2.73, a high for the year and the highest since 2018, though still well below levels prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
Rainer Hundsdörfer, the CEO who has less than six months left to run as the head of the company, says that the results show that “Heidelberg is doing very well”. He adds: “We also see great potential for the future thanks to our leading position in China and in the areas of digital business models, emobility and packaging printing. In addition to all this, our break even point will continue to fall. Despite the clearly evident problems in the supply chain at present, we are therefore confident about this year and the years to come.”
Some of the confidence comes with a deal announced with Munich Re, an insurance business that has agreed to underwrite the Heidelberg Subscription products. From the start of next year, Munich Re will fund the investment in the machine, protecting Heidelberg’s balance sheet, and allowing printers to modernise a fleet of machines without an upfront capital investment. This deal prepares the business for a switch to Ludwin Monz as CEO.
Incoming orders for print solutions reached €689 million (€465 million) for the six months and orders for packaging solutions were up from €392 million 12 months ago to €535 million this year.
