Heidelberg Reports Strategic Reorientation
- Published: July 02, 2015
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY | Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG reports it has largely completed the Group’s strategic reorientation in financial year 2014/2015 (April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015). The focus during this process was on realigning the Group’s portfolio toward profitable areas of business and growth sectors. The corporate structures have also been adapted to dynamic changes in markets. Company reports this has had a further significant impact on sales and results and has provided the basis for profitable growth.
“We’ve made Heidelberg fit for the future,” says Gerold Linzbach, CEO of the company. “The reorientation will enable [us] to enjoy sustained profitable growth in the future.”
Future growth will be generated primarily in the services and digital sectors. The company continued to strengthen the services sector in the past financial year through acquisitions (BluePrint Products, Printing Systems Group, Fujifilm Sverige). The newly acquired companies are reportedly set to generate sales of more than €100 million from the current financial year 2015/2016 onward and will help ensure sustainably profitable growth for Heidelberg following complete integration. The Heidelberg Group’s position in the growth segment of digital printing was further strengthened with the complete takeover of Neo7even and the Gallus Group and the launch of a digital label printing press.
Company says another aim is to further improve profitability. The reorientation of unprofitable activities such as those in postpress, which was completed in financial year 2014/2015, will improve the result by approximately €30 million in the future. The structures for offset printing have also been adapted to the market environment, thus enabling company to respond more flexibly to market fluctuations and achieve cost savings in the low double-digit million euro range.
