Heidelberg has benefitted from ‘structural growth’ in packaging and label printing fuelled by worldwide demand for packaged goods, as the German manufacturer reported a ‘solid second quarter’.
In a trading update related to its 2023/24 financial year, Heidelberg reported that, despite the difficult global economic situation, it is ‘well on track’ after six months of its current financial year 2023/2024. Sales of c€1.1 billion in the period from 1 April 1 to 30 September matched the previous year. Whilst incoming orders after six months totalled c€ 1.2 billion, which was also equivalent to the previous year’s level. EBITDA saw an improvement on the same period of the previous financial year, with the half-year figure amounting to €101 million in H1 2023/24, compared to the comparable period’s €92 million EBITDA total.
A slight improvement in sales in the EMEA region is cited as positively impacting the above results, driven by growth in the packaging segment. Moreover, Heidelberg noted that packaging and label printing is experiencing ‘structural growth’ due to burgeoning worldwide demand for packaged goods. The Gallus One digital label press and Boardmaster flexo press are benefitting from this, evidenced by incoming orders for the company’s Packaging Solutions segment recording an increase of around 16% in the first half-year of 2023/24.
Heidelberg CEO Dr Ludwin Monz commented, ‘Given the stable growth of packaging printing, we are continuously further expanding our portfolio in this sector.’
Assuming the global economy does not see weaker growth than predicted by the economic research institutions, Heidelberg expects sales across the 2023/2024 financial year to match the previous year’s figure of c€2.4 billion).
