Heidelberg systematically gears portfolio toward profitability and growth - clearly positive EBITDA for first half of financial year 2014/2015

Heidelberg (ots) -

- Restructuring of Group continued for sustained profitable
growth:
- Postpress business realigned
- Leaner, more flexible production structures in sheetfed
offset equipment sector
- Targeted takeovers to invest in growth areas of consumables
and digital

- Half-year EBITDA, including income from Gallus transaction,
climbs to EUR 53 million - decline in sales in line with
expectations

- Outlook: Restructuring of portfolio emphasizes target EBITDA
margin of at least 8 percent in financial year 2015/2016

As announced at the Annual Press Conference in June, Heidelberger
Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is systematically gearing its
portfolio toward profitability and growth. The company has completed
the realignment of its postpress business as planned and on schedule.
At the end of October, Heidelberg signed a cooperation agreement with
Masterwork Machinery Co., Ltd in China covering postpress packaging
equipment. Under this agreement, the Chinese company Masterwork will
develop and manufacture future products and solutions for this market
segment; marketing and service outside China and Japan will remain in
the hands of Heidelberg. The two companies have also agreed to
consider joint production of components in China. Negotiations with
employee representatives regarding a reduction in the workforce at
the Ludwigsburg site have been completed and agreement has been
reached on the closure of the Leipzig site. The aim is to place
postpress on a profitable footing by focusing on competitive products
and to improve the result by approximately EUR 30 million from the
next financial year onward by adapting the business model.

Leaner, more flexible structures in sheetfed offset equipment
sector

In new sheetfed offset machinery business, profitability is to be
increased in the near future and this area is to be adapted to the
fluctuations in demand that are typical for the market by increasing
flexibility. To this end, product modularization and standardization
will be advanced further in order to achieve economies of scale
despite the reduced production volume. As part of these measures, the
break-even point for operating profit in this area is to be lowered
further by the end of the year by adjusting personnel capacity.

Acquisitions in growth areas of consumables and digital

As previously announced, expansion in the profitable and less
cyclical consumables business area is another key strategic goal for
Heidelberg. The takeover of Belgian consumables supplier BluePrint