Heidelberg shares marked their worst ever one-day fall on the Frankfurt stock exchange yesterday, after the company posted weaker-than-expected third quarter results.
Heidelberg did its best to highlight the positives in its latest figures, however, hefty falls in net and pre-tax profit, combined with a decline in order intake and worsening outlook, were clearly enough to spook investors.
Heidelberg’s share price fell 16.63%, to €16.54 beating the German-based manufacturer’s previous record one-day slide, in October 2001, when shares fell 16.3%, to €46.5.
The press manufacturer reported net profits of €87m for the first nine months ending 31 December, up 8% year-on-year. Heidelberg registered a €180m net profit for the same period in 2006 but this included a one-off tax benefit of €73m due to changes in tax legislation.
Sales for the period were down year-on-year to €2.568bn, with falls across the press, pre-press and financial services divisions.
However, incoming orders for Q3 rose 4%, underpinned by a particularly strong performance in Europe.
Incoming orders from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region rose to €454m from €386m a year ago, a 17% leap.
Orders also boomed in Eastern Europe, with a massive 68% year-on-year rise off a smaller base to reach a total of €139m for the quarter.
However, incoming orders for North America plummeted, dropping 32% year-on-year from €175m to €120m. Asia Pacific also fell 12%, while Latin America grew just 2%.
Heidelberg UK managing director George Clarke warned that "A quarter is a very short time to report in" and Heidelberg shares rallied somewhat this morning, pushing past €17.
For the UK, Clarke said: "It was very quiet between January and June of last year. But we have a lot of projects on at the moment so I'm reasonably satisfied with my results.
"I'm maintaining the forecast that I gave Heidelberg at the beginning of the year, and in fact it could be a little bit more than that."
