According to preliminary figures, German printing press manufacturer Heidelberg achieved sales and an operating margin above expectations in the 2020/2021 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2021. At ?1.913 billion, sales exceeded the high end of the forecast range of ?1.85 billion to ?1.90 billion.
This good result is mainly due to a "strong last quarter" and increased demand from China, parts of Europe and the United States.
In the fourth quarter, the order backlog improved significantly to 579 million Euro compared to 462 million Euro in the same quarter of the previous year.
And incoming orders reached a high level of approximately 2.0 billion euros at the end of the fiscal year, providing a favorable basis for the new fiscal year.
"With a strong final acceleration, we were able to continue our recovery in business volume since the coronavirus-induced decline this summer." said Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg. "The recovery in these regions gives us confidence that we will continue this upward trend in net sales and operating margin going forward."
And with the Group's transformation program and the increase in sales volume in the last quarter, operating profit also exceeded the company's expectations. At 146 million euros, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) excluding the restructuring result were significantly higher than in the previous year (102 million euros).
"The consistent and rapid implementation of our transformation program stabilized Heidelberg during the pandemic and, driven by the market recovery, is laying the foundation for profitable growth." said Marcus A. Wassenberg, Heidelberg's chief financial officer.
