Heidelberg with a solid start to the new financial year - order backlog growing thanks to subscription model

Heidelberg (ots) -

- Incoming orders in the first quarter up by 6 percent to EUR665
million

- Group sales increased by 9 percent to EUR541 million

- Operating result (EBITDA) up from EUR14 million to EUR20
million - EBIT positive at EUR2 million

- On course to achieve overall annual targets for 2018/2019

- Digital transformation well underway, medium-term targets firmly
in sight

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has started off the
2018/2019 financial year with growth in net sales and result. High
demand for the newly established subscription model and the launch of
series production of the Primefire digital press are demonstrating
the potential the digital transformation offers the company. Incoming
orders, for example, improved in the first quarter (April 1 to June
30) by 6 percent to EUR665 million. Furthermore, the previous year's
figure of EUR629 million benefited from the Print China trade show.
The order backlog grew by 18 percent to EUR714 million (previous
year: EUR603 million), partly due to subscription contracts,
particularly in terms of life cycle business, i.e. services and
consumables.

The first quarter brought in the first revenues raised from
subscription contracts, which generate recurrent sales over a term
that usually lasts five years. However, Heidelberg also recorded
growth in traditional business during the first quarter, with sales
rising by 9 percent in total to EUR541 million, despite negative
currency effects. Had exchange rates remained similar, revenues would
have risen by around 11 percent.

"The strong customer demand for our new subscription portfolio and
digital packaging printing presses has exceeded our expectations.
Heidelberg is driving digitization in the entire industry. The
establishment of the new business models is proceeding to plan and
will at first make a relatively modest contribution to net sales and
result, albeit one that will increase significantly in the medium
term," commented Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg.

Operating profit at the start of the year

At EUR20 million, EBITDA excluding the restructuring result was
higher than the same quarter of the previous year (EUR14 million),
bringing the EBITDA margin up from 2.8 percent to 3.7 percent.
Despite the additional staff costs associated with the new collective
wage agreement, EBIT excluding the restructuring result was positive
in this quarter, which traditionally records the weakest sales, at
EUR2 million (previous year: EUR-3 million). As previously announced,
the company is continuing to work on reducing financing costs to less