Heidelberg reports $150m loss but says journey to profit almost over

Heidelberg is optimistic it will return to profit next year after consecutive losses since "the crisis year 2008".

The German manufacturer talked up its 2012-13 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), which rose €25 million year-on-year to reach a "clearly positive operating result" of €28 million.

Sales rose 5% to €2.7 billion - 62.5% of sales came from the equipment division and 37% came from services.

Heidelberg revealed an order backlog of €502 million on top of €2.8 billion of incoming orders, but said Drupa could have been better.

"Sales of new equipment did not quite meet expectations, because Drupa did not result in a lasting revitalisation of the market as had been hoped."

The full-year results fell into the red due to special items, largely its major restructuring program, Focus 2012, which have continued into this financial year.

"The majority of these measures will be geared toward cutting staff costs by reducing the headcount to significantly below 14,000," according to Heidelberg.

It has already cut more than 1,000 workers over the 12 months, with employment levels at 14,215 in March 2013.

The German manufacturer reported a net loss of €110 million ($153 million) for the 12 months to 31 March 2013, a 52% improvement on the €230 million loss recorded in 2011-12.

The results statement points out that China is now Heidelberg's biggest market with 16% of total sales.

Heidelberg chief executive Gerold Linzbach said: "We will make strategic adjustments to the portfolio and increasingly focus on business areas that offer the potential to achieve long-term profitability."

This could mean a greater focus on top-spec and packaging presses, especially as digital takes an increasing share of small-format work.

"The structural changes in the printing industry are being reflected in the format classes that are in demand. Orders for large-format sheetfed offset presses rose overall, while orders for small-format presses were lower than in previous years," said the company.

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