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Increase of 69.1 percent in Q1 thanks to drupa success
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has made an excellent start to the 2000/2001 fiscal year. In the first quarter ( April 1 - June 30), the Heidelberg Group received orders to the value of just under 1.8 billion Euro. This is more than 69 percent up on the same period last year (1.1 billion Euro). The value of the order books rose significantly to a value of 2.2 billion Euro, which is 71 percent more than last year.
This positive development was attributable to Heidelberg's successful appearance at drupa in May 2000 in Düsseldorf, which resulted in orders worth 1.5 billion Euro, and to the industry's continued favorable economic climate on the major markets.
The Heidelberg Group's sales in the first quarter showed a rise of more than 19 percent to one billion Euro, compared to 835 million Euro in Q1 last year. After adjustments for the initial consolidation in the Digital division, sales were still 11.8 percent above the previous year's figures. Since the first quarter's sales figures only comprise a small proportion of drupa business, a tangible increase in sales over last year's figures is expected in the remainder of the financial year. As expected, the group's profit after tax did not reach last year's high figures in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The drop from 36 million Euro to 21 million Euro is a result of the expenses incurred by Heidelberg's appearance at drupa.
In the Digital division, significant increases were seen in orders received (+ 125 percent) and sales (62.5 percent). This also applies for the sheetfed sector (sheetfed offset presses) and the web division (web offset presses), where orders received rose by 71 and 33 percent respectively compared to the same period last year.
The Asia/Pacific sales region developed very positively with rise in sales of more than 68 percent. Equally encouraging was the NAFTA market (USA, Mexico and Canada), which showed an increase of 56 percent.
At June 30, 2000, the Heidelberg Group had a workforce of 24,530. This represents an increase of 11 percent on the previous year.
For further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Investor Relations
Dirk Kaliebe
Tel: +49 (0)6221 92 60 20
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 60 61
E-mail:
dirk.kaliebe@heidelberg.com
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