During the second quarter of financial year 2021/2022 (July 1 to September 30, 2021), Heidelberg has built on the developments of the first three months. The market recovery continued in virtually all regions compared with the previous year and, as already announced, the Group’s transformation is making a big contribution to improving the operating result. The Group’s half-year sales increased by 22 percent to €983 million (previous year: €805 million). The EBITDA figure of €75 million was also up on the previous year (€67 million), even though the first half of the previous year was positively influenced by earnings from the restructuring of retirement provision amounting to €73 million, the sale of a subsidiary (€8 million), 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 over €20 million from the sale of docufy GmbH, which does not form part of the company’s core business operations. The international logistics bottlenecks throughout the industry were already making themselves felt during the first half of the year in the form of delivery delays. Material supplies were also subject to the familiar pressures. However, close collaboration with suppliers and the approval of alternative components prevented more serious negative effects during this period.
“The highly positive developments in our growth areas and our improved cost-efficiency underline that Heidelberg is doing very well. We also see great potential for the future thanks to our leading position in China and in the areas of digital business models, e-mobility, 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,” comments Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer.
Outlook: Forecast for year as a whole remains unchanged despite uncertainties
The company is standing by its most recent forecast. Accordingly, Heidelberg is still expecting sales to climb to at least €2 billion. With the sale of docufy GmbH, the company predicted an EBITDA margin in the range of 7 to 7.5 percent on August 31, 2021. Given the increasing rate at which material costs are rising and shortages in the logistics chain, the third quarter will provide a clearer indication of where the EBITDA margin for financial year 2021/2022 is likely to lie within this corridor.
