Orders in first nine months around 1 billion Euro over previous
year
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has once
again improved its sales and revenue figures for the first nine
months (April 1 to December 31) of fiscal year 2000/2001. Incoming
orders in total rose significantly by 29 percent to 4.4
billion Euro. But over the last 3 months they were slightly down
compared to the extremely high levels recorded in the first half of
2000/2001 (up 51 percent over the previous year) due in part
to the economic slowdown in the USA. The order book at the end of
the quarter was worth 2.2 billion Euro, around 59 percent above the
figure for the comparable period in 1999/2000.
The company's sales over the period from April to December
2000 were 15 percent up to around 3.5 billion Euro, the profit
after tax climbing around 4 percent to 166 million Euro. Heidelberg
was therefore able to continue the pleasing results of the first
six months in the third quarter.
"These newly published figures reaffirm our leading position
as a global solution provider in the graphic arts industry", states
Bernhard Schreier, Chairman of the Management Board of Heidelberger
Druckmaschinen AG, underlining the success of Heidelberg's
strategic approach and repositioning.
"We expect sales in excess of 5 billion Euro for the complete
2000/2001 fiscal year and an increase in net profit over the
previous year of around 10 percent", states Dr. Herbert Meyer,
Finance Director.
The company had a workforce worldwide of 25,618 at December
31, 2000. This represents an increase of 1,527 (6.3 percent)
compared with December 31, 1999.
Pleasing developments in the various divisions
Order levels in the digital division increased by 24.5
percent and sales by 25 percent. Heidelberg will deliver the
2,000th "Digimaster" black/white digital press in the
spring. Heidelberg's goal is to reach a market share of 20 percent
in this seg-ment by the year 2002.
Orders received by the Sheetfed division (sheetfed offset
presses) rose by 33 percent in the first nine months and sales by
13 percent. Excellent drupa trade fair results and the orders these
generated indicate that the company will exceed last year's sales
over the full fiscal year.
Orders received in the Web Systems division (web offset
presses) rose 27 percent and sales by 26 percent. Heidelberg also
achieved further success in the Newspaper Printing segment through
the sale of a Mainstream rotary newspaper press to the Mexican
publishing house El Universal. This brought the total number of
Mainstream rotary newspaper presses sold to eleven.
In the Finishing division the overall positive trend
continued over the last three months, increasing by 11 percent.
Asia Pacific and Central and South America record strongest
growth
In the Asia/Pacific region, Heidelberg succeeded in
increasing sales during the first nine months by 45 percent
compared with the previous year. Developments on the Chinese and
Japanese markets were particularly positive.
In North America (USA, Mexico and Canada), sales were 20
percent up on the comparable period of last year. The strong growth
in sales of the "Digimaster" digital press were particularly
impressive and helped offset the slight drop in orders experienced
by traditional offset business in the third quarter in the USA. The
Central and South America region recorded the strongest increase in
sales, with a rise of 81 percent.
The opening of another Print Media Academy in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, in December 2000 once again reaffirms Heidelberg's
commitment to training in the graphic arts industry. The
international Print Media Academy network now encompasses eight
sites worldwide, and a further two will be added over the coming
year in Cairo and Sydney.
For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Peter Caspar Hamel
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 50 60
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 69
E-Mail:
caspar.hamel@heidelberg.com