Shareholders at the annual general meeting were told the company has executed a €100 million financial turnaround from minus AUD $106 million (€-72) last year to a positive AUD$41 million (€28 million) to March 2016.
Retiring CEO Gerold Linzbach, said that over the past financial year, Heidelberg has set the course for growth and sustained profitability. The effects of the strategic reorientation in recent years and a substantial increase in sales to €2,512 million, plus an improvement in the EBITDA margin to nearly eight percent delivered the positive result.
The company is not out of the woods yet with the with the profit representing a return of just over one percent of the reported revenue of €2.5 billion during the year. Looking forward it set medium-term targets to improve performance aiming to grow sales by four percent to reach €3 billion while lifting EDITDA to 7-10 percent.
The company said it’s looking to continue its growth trajectory in the years ahead based on the new portfolio and planned acquisitions, especially in the services sector. To this end, the company is focusing on new products and concepts from the strategic areas of equipment, services, and consumables, and also on the industry’s digitization. This is intended to significantly increase the future volume of business and unlock new market opportunities.
These new offerings from Heidelberg are aimed primarily at the growing market for high-end packaging and high-quality commercial printing at industrialized print shops.