Positive Trend at Heidelberg Continues |
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| 02/13/2001 |
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Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has once again improved its sales and revenue figures for the first nine months (April 1 - 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 three 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 four 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 print media 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 five billion Euro for the complete 2000/2001 fiscal year and an increase in net profit over the previous year of around ten 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-and-white digital press in the spring. Heidelberg’s goal is to reach a market share of 20 percent in this segment 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
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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Company Profile
Over the course of its more than 150-year history, Heidelberg has grown from a traditional printing press manufacturer to become the world's largest solutions provider for the print media industry. With its seamlessly integrated hardware and software solutions, it has established a commanding lead over other market players. Heidelberg is a one-stop supplier of everything from prepress solutions to a wide range of products for printing and finishing processes, relevant training and accompanying services.
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