Financial Year 2006/2007: Heidelberg Presents Nine-Month Figures.* Incoming orders for third quarter 7 percent up on previous year * Sales around 6 percent up at EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 2.589 billion * Operating result up to EUR 202 million * Outlook for full financial year 2006/2007 unchanged HEIDELBERG, Germany -- In the first nine months of financial year 2006/2007 (April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) (FWB (Fixed Wireless Broadband) See fixed wireless. : HDD (Hard Disk Drive) See hard disk and HDD caddy. HDD - hard disk drive ) returned figures for sales, incoming orders and operating result that were up over the previous year. Sales by the Heidelberg Group during the period under review climbed around 6 percent to EUR 2.589 billion (previous year: EUR 2.437 billion). Incoming orders after nine months amounted to EUR 2.913 billion, around 7 percent up on the same period of the previous year (EUR 2.725 billion). The order backlog of EUR 1.280 billion at December 31, 2006 was once again on a very high level. "The favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. development in the print media industry has continued thanks to the positive trend in the economy as a whole in 2006," stated Heidelberg CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Bernhard Schreier. "Capacity utilization Capacity Utilization measures the rate at which a firm makes use of their capital productive capacities, such as factories and machinery. Capacity Utilization generally rises when the economy is healthy and falls when demand softens. and production activity in printshops both increased in the two key markets Germany and the U.S." The Heidelberg Group recorded an operating result of EUR 202 million in the period under review (previous year: EUR 144 million). This corresponds to a return on sales Return on sales A measurement of operational efficiency equalingnet pre-tax profits divided by net sales expressed as a percentage. return on sales The portion of each dollar of sales that a firm is able to turn into income. of 7.8 percent. The net profit after nine months - including a positive non-recurring effect resulting from a corporate income tax credit in the third quarter of EUR 73 million - was EUR 180 million (previous year: EUR 65 million). Earnings per share after nine months were EUR 2.21 (previous year: EUR 0.76), of which EUR 0.89 were attributable to the additional tax revenue. "We were able to make further progress towards increasing our productivity in both the third quarter and the nine months as a whole," stated Heidelberg CFO See Chief Financial Officer. Dirk Kaliebe. "We are also making use of the resulting improved cash flow to implement the share buyback Buyback The buying back of outstanding shares (repurchase) by a company in order to reduce the number of shares on the market. Companies will buyback shares either to increase the value of shares still available (reducing supply), or to eliminate any threats by shareholders who may program." As of December 31, 2006, the Heidelberg Group had a workforce of 19,156 worldwide (previous year: 18,700). This represents an increase of around 400 since the end of the last financial year. Nine-month sales and results show improvement in the divisions In the Press Division (offset printing), sales rose to EUR 2.251 billion in the first nine months (previous year: EUR 2.130 billion). Incoming orders in the period under review amounted to EUR 2.551 billion (previous year: EUR 2.395 billion). The operating result after the first three quarters amounted to EUR 157 million (previous year: EUR 121 million). The positive business development within the press division was also affected by the considerably high demand for the large format, especially for the Speedmaster XL 105. In the current fiscal year Heidelberg is particularly investing in new technologies as there are Anicolor and a new generation of sheetfed printing presses of a larger format (Speedmaster XL 142/162). In the Postpress Division (finishing), sales amounted to EUR 309 million, 14 percent up on the figure 12 months ago (previous year: EUR 271 million). Incoming orders rose by around 13 percent to EUR 333 million (previous year: EUR 294 million). The operating result for the period under review amounted to EUR 7 million (previous year: EUR 2 million). Sales and incoming orders in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Refers to that region of the world. For example, one might see products packaged differently for the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets. , North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. and Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. regions in the first nine months exceeded the comparable figures for the previous year. In the Asia/Pacific region, figures fell short of the high levels of the previous year. Primarily the suspension of the import duty exemption in China in the second and third quarter slowed down incoming orders and sales. The restoration of the import duty exemption on March 1, 2007 suggests that the expected improvement in the order and supply situation for the Chinese market will be deferred to the new financial year. Share buyback On November 7, 2006, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG launched a second share buyback program: A total of up to 5 percent of the company's capital stock - a maximum of 4,152,535 shares - is to be repurchased on the stock market by January 2008 at the latest. At the end of the quarter, on December 31, 2006, the company had bought back 909,422 shares, equivalent to 1.1 percent of the share capital. Outlook for financial year 2006/2007 unchanged For financial year 2006/2007, the company anticipates that sales will be approximately 5 percent up on financial year 2005/2006. Heidelberg plans to increase its operating result to approximately 10 percent of sales during the current financial year. The complete report for the third quarter of 2006/2007 will be available online at www.heidelberg.com. The tables showing the figures as well as further information can be downloaded from the Press Lounge at www.heidelberg.com. Other dates: The scheduled publication date for the preliminary figures for financial year 2006/2007 is May 9, 2007. |
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