Parent Agfa-Gevaert published its full-year results for 2013 today. Group sales, including the Healthcare and Specialty Products divisions, were down 7.3% to €2.86bn (£2.39bn). Unfavourable exchange rates exacerbated the drop, which Agfa said would have been 4.8% on a like-for-like basis.
Group EBITDA (earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was effectively static at €224m (2012: €225m), with margins improving to 7.8%.
Net debt was reduced by €74m to €217m.
The profit for the year of €49m was Agfa’s first bottom-line profit in three years.
Agfa Graphics remains Agfa’s largest business unit, although its Healthcare operation is more profitable.
Graphics is reaping the rewards of a group-wide efficiency programme, with EBITDA up 7.6% to €97.9m on sales down 9.7% to €1.49bn, and gross margins improving from 24.7% to 26.2%.
Analogue film sales, which were “exceptionally strong” in 2012, declined last year and Agfa cited this, together with tough economic conditions and the rationalisation of its product range as being behind the sales drop.
Printing plate volumes were slightly up, but pricing was squeezed.
The firm’s industrial inkjet division broke even for the first time and delivered a small EBITDA.
Last spring Agfa announced it was mothballing its M-Press flatbed inkjet press in order to focus on its next generation of products.
The group said the improved performance in inkjet vindicated this decision, and it had grown wide-format market share in 2013 as well as adding new OEM customers for its inks.
Agfa’s next-generation of wide-format products is set to be launched at the beginning of next year.
Agfa UK managing director Joergen Vad said the UK operation had implemented a raft of initiatives that had improved the firm’s results in this territory. “Our success in change management is visible in the business’ performance,” he said. “This has involved the cumulative effect of changes to around 50 different things, from service efficiency to increasing prices, better purchasing and changing logistics supplier.”
He added: “It is also due to our customers’ success, and our customers had a fantastic Q4 in particular. My feeling is the market picked up at the end of last year, now I want to see Q1 to see if this is sustained. As far as I can tell, it is.”
Agfa launched the latest variant of its Azura chemistry-free range, the Azura TU, in Q4. It is suitable for longer run lengths of up to 150,000.
The plate is part-manufactured at its Leeds plate plant.
“Leeds is doing fine because of the quality they produce there. The TU is going very well, especially in the UK where we had a number of beta sites,” Vad added.
Separately, Agfa is in negotiations with the 1,200-strong workforce at its Mortsel film manufacturing facility over proposed changes to early retirement and pension terms. The factory makes film for graphics, healthcare and specialty applications.
Workers went out on strike for three days earlier this month after talks stalled, but a new proposal is now on the table with a result expected at the end of this week.
