Heidelberg has revealed that following its business realignment over the past two years, its sales has risen by 14 per cent to €2.183 billion in the financial year 2021/22 between the period of 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
It further added that significant growth was achieved in both commercial and packaging printing, with increasing demand for all products and in all regions. Customer investments in new equipment were the main driving force in this regard, it said.
In addition, incoming orders increased by more than €450 million to €2.454 billion and its order backlog reached a level of around €900 million from €636 million the previous year.
The company’s EBITDA increased to €160 million from €95 million the same time last year. Its net result after taxes increased from a loss of €43 million to a profit of €33 million.
“Over the past financial year, Heidelberg has further strengthened its resilience by significantly improving its sales and results. Financially speaking, the Group is in a better position than for quite some time,” its recently appointed CEO Dr. Ludwin Monz said.
“In financial year 2022/23, too, we are looking to benefit from this, from the successful growth initiatives focusing on the core markets and our digital business models, and also from our e-mobility success story.
“That makes us optimistic about being able to counteract the very challenging circumstances, including the huge price increases.”
The company also said that its order backlog of around €900 million as of 31 March is the highest in ten years.
Like all production companies, however, it is also facing some sharp increases in material, energy, logistics, and staffing costs that it said are likely to result in price adjustments.
“We will be keeping a very close eye on the markets so that we can take any necessary countermeasures,” Dr. Monz said.
“As things stand at present, though, we are expecting further growth in sales to around €2.3 billion and – primarily as a result of operational improvements – an increase in the EBITDA margin to at least eight per cent.”
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