HOMAG Group with revenue growth in the first nine months of 2018: Successful with large-scale plants
Schopfloch, November 8, 2018. The HOMAG Group increased sales revenues in the first nine months of 2018 and still has a high order backlog.
The HOMAG Group increased its sales by 3.7 percent (adjusted for exchange rate effects: +6.0 percent) to EUR 937 million (previous year: EUR 904 million). The order backlog reached a volume of EUR 666 million as of September 30, 2018 (September 30, 2017: EUR 591 million) and incoming orders were at EUR 1,041 million in the first nine months of 2018. It thus fell by 3.5 percent compared with the very high figure of last year (EUR 1,079 million) (-1.4 percent adjusted for exchange rate effects). As of September 30, 2018, the HOMAG Group employed 6,605 people (September 30, 2017: 6,316).
The operating EBIT of EUR 65.2 million (previous year: EUR 72.4 million) was influenced, among other things, by negative exchange rate effects and a management fee paid to Dürr. "In the course of the year we have invested a lot into a future-proof setup of the HOMAG Group," explains CEO Pekka Paasivaara. This includes the SAP-based modernization of IT systems, digitization, and the expansion of assembly plants at various locations. Production at the largest plant in Schopfloch is currently being reorganized to be prepared for the rapidly growing systems business. Pekka Paasivaara emphasizes: "With the efficiency improvements so far we are on the right track, but have not reached our ambition fully yet".
In North and South America, business continued to develop positively overall. "In the USA, we even recorded double-digit growth," emphasizes Paasivaara. "Systems business with industrial clients was similarly good in Europe, where we achieved double-digit growth in Germany. In China, on the other hand, the systems business temporarily calmed down after the strong years 2016 and 2017. We expect the China market to come back again in 2019. Overall, it is evident that many customers see us as their strategic partner of choice in the systems business. We expect ongoing growth in this area in the future. However, our focus will also remain on customers in the woodworking shop segment, who are increasingly demanding connected and automated cells from our portfolio.
Note: The figures shown in this press release for the first nine months 2017 have been adjusted compared to the initial publication due to the first-time application of IFRS 15.
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain statements relating to the future. Futureoriented statements are all those statements that do not pertain to historical facts and events or expressions pertaining to the future such as "believes", "estimates", "assumes", "forecasts", "intend", "may", "will", "should" or similar expressions. Such future-oriented statements are subject to risks and uncertainty since they relate to future events and are based on current assumptions of the Company, which may not occur in the future or may not occur in the anticipated form. The Company points out that such future-oriented statements do not guarantee the future; actual results including the financial position and the profitability of the HOMAG Group as well as the development of economic and regulatory framework conditions may deviate significantly (and prove unfavorable) from what is expressly or implicitly assumed or described in these statements. Even if the actual results of the HOMAG Group including the financial position and profitability as well as the economic and regulatory framework conditions should coincide with the future-oriented statements in this press release, it cannot be guaranteed that the same will hold true in the future.