Heidelberg has launched its new growth strategy for the next five years, targeting 'digital transformation, technology leadership, and operational excellence' as key areas.
The European giant has set its sights on three billion euro ($4.45 billion AUD) group sales by 2022 through expanding its digital operations and continuing to develop new technologies. “Over the next five years, Heidelberg will once again become a leading light in the sector, enjoying strong growth and profits. We’ve defined the relevant success factors and have already introduced initial measures. This marks the start of a new era of growth for Heidelberg,” said Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO.
Heidelberg intends these measures to generate €500 million ($742 million AUD) in sales by 2022, and will couple them with 'operational excellence' measures to improve efficiency and reduce costs without a massive restructure.
The new plan comes after a successful 2016-17 financial year, which saw an EBITDA of €179 million ($266 million AUD) and €2.5 billion in sales ($3.7 billion AUD). “In financial year 2016/17, we not only achieved noticeable operational improvements, but also made further progress with our balance sheet quality. Our very sound financial structure will enable Heidelberg to independently finance the upcoming investments taking the company into the digital future. Our future focus will remain on improving our asset management and cash flow, and on achieving the best possible financial result by optimizing our financing framework,” said Dirk Kaliebe, CFO.