The manufacturer said the three months to 31 December 2024 brought “significant improvements” in performance, with an increase in incoming orders to €550m (£458m) on the prior year, and described as “much better than the current developments in the mechanical and plant engineering sector as a whole”.
Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter jumped from 5.7% to 9.2%, although the nine month figures were impacted by low sales and losses during Q1.
For the nine months, adjusted EBITDA fell from €135m to €86m.
On the back of a successful showing at last year’s Drupa, Heidelberg said its high order backlog of €903m should result in a strong final quarter.
Incoming orders at its Packaging wing were up 11% to €959m for Q1-Q3; while Print division orders were up 4.4% to €858m.
CEO Jürgen Otto said restructuring and the firm’s growth strategy were bearing fruit.
“We have succeeded in continuously improving our sales and operating result quarter by quarter in a difficult economic environment,” he said, confirming that the business would achieve its targets for the full year.
“And we will drive down costs further still in the coming year by implementing our plan for the future and boosting efficiency. This cost discipline will have a positive effect on our profitability, which should improve further in the next financial year.”
Q3 provisions included €29m for restructuring to reduce labour costs, leading to a net loss of €7m for Q3 and a €42m loss for nine months.
CFO Tania von der Goltz said the big improvements expected in the results for Q4 along with a reduction of inventories by the end of the financial year “will have a positive impact on the free cash flow”.
Expansion into other business areas such as green technologies included news of an initial prototype of a hydrogen electrolyzer set to be completed over the summer, with ambitions to make this available on an industrial scale.
A Heidelberg spokesperson told Printweek that the plan was to commission the electrolyzer prototype at its Wiesloch site, in addition to its multi-megawatt photovoltaic system on Hall 6. “The hydrogen produced could then be used to refuel hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles, for example.”
The group recently announced the first European customers for its Jetfire B3 sheetfed inkjet press.
Heidelberg’s share price slipped by 4.56% on the results announcement, to €1.13 (52-week high: €1.39, low: €0.85).
