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The future is looking bright for the world’s largest maker of printing presses as Heidelberg celebrates a significant financial turn around that should be further improved upon in the 2005/06 financial year.
In the year to March 31, 2005, overall sales of the Heidelberg Group grew three per cent to €3.207bn. Sales in its largest division, the Press Division (offset printing), increased by about five per cent to €2.797bn and the Postpress Division (finishing) reached €348m. Overall, incoming orders powered eight per cent to €3.508b for this period.While the net profit amounted to €61m, Heidelberg CFO Dr Herbert Meyer says the operating profit, including the operating loss from NexPress, improved from €10m to about €160m. “Through the deep restructuring of Heidelberg, we achieved this great improvement in earnings which will have continuing effects,” says Meyer.
CEO Bernhard Schreier agrees the company is on track to increase profits again in the new financial year as prices increase and customers order more equipment. “Even if the markets and the global economy did not exhibit the robust growth that we had hoped for, particularly in recent months, the figures nevertheless show that we are right on track and that our measures are beginning to take hold,” says Schreier.
Heidelberg now concentrates on its next expansion, a new production site in China scheduled for completion by the start of 2006.
