Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HBGRF.PK) reported that its EBITDA, excluding the restructuring result, for the financial year 2017/2018 totaled 172 million euros compared to 179 million euros in the prior year. Without the tax burden from the American subsidiaries due to the U.S. tax reform, this would have led to a comparable net result after taxes of 39 million euros, compared to 36 million euros last year. Due to the tax burden, however, the total net profit after taxes was around 14 million euros.
Based on provisional figures that have yet to be audited, Heidelberg has achieved the targets it set itself with Group sales of 2.420 billion euros, compared to the previous year's figure of 2.524 billion euros was mainly the result of negative currency effects and the deliberate avoidance of trading activities in low-margin remarketed equipment amounting in total to over 100 million euros. Despite the negative currency effects in the period under review, incoming orders were at a very encouraging level for a post-drupa year at 2.588 billion euros compared to 2.593 billion euros in the prior year.
In addition, the series production of digital presses for packaging and label printing (Primefire and Labelfire), which also started in financial year 2017/2018, will have an increasingly positive impact on sales. Heidelberg is thus on course to meet the medium-term targets communicated in the summer of 2017. These include an increase in Group sales to around 3 billion euros, an operating result or EBITDA of 250 million euros to 300 million euros, and a net profit after taxes of over 100 million euros.
Heidelberg said it will publish the audited financial statements for financial year 2017/2018 and the outlook for 2018/2019 at the Annual Accounts Press Conference on June 12, 2018 in Frankfurt.