As already announced last month, sales and earnings were significantly down on the equivalent figures for the previous year due to difficult market conditions and customers’ reluctance to invest in the run-up to drupa.
Sales by Heidelberg in the first three months this year totalled EU 657m down on last year’s EU 742m. However the order backlog at the end of the first quarter was EU 1.298bn, up from the previous quarter’s EU 874m.
Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberg says, “Healthy incoming orders from drupa will mean better operating results in the second and third quarters than in the first three months.”
He says, “The trade show enabled us to underline our position as the world leader in the industry, but difficult underlying conditions are still impacting on the current market situation. The package of measures already introduced to improve our cost structure will compensate these effects in the medium term.”
The company also reported an operating loss of EU35m in the period under review compared with the previous year’s profit of EU 26m. The net result in the first quarter was minus EU 39m compared with the previous year’s EU 8m profit.
