Positive result in a challenging year
HOMAG Group fiscal year 2020
Schopfloch, February 25, 2021. The HOMAG Group closed fiscal year 2020 with a positive result despite the challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic. “In spite of the coronavirus crisis, we developed the company further and made acquisitions, in particular to strengthen our business in China and in the solid-wood sector”, points out CEO Ralf W. Dieter.
According to preliminary figures, the HOMAG Group’s order intake in fiscal 2020 declined by 10.4 percent to € 1,093 million (previous year: € 1,220 million). Sales decreased by 13.1 percent to € 1,112 million (previous year: € 1,279 million). By contrast, the order backlog stood at € 581 million as at December 31, 2020, thus exceeding the previous year’s level (December 31, 2019: € 546 million). The HOMAG Group achieved operating EBIT of € 27.0 million (previous year: € 82.7 million). “After a good start to the year, we recorded a significant decline in orders in the second quarter, due to the restrictions and uncertainties resulting from the coronavirus pandemic”, explains Dieter. “In the second half of the year, and particularly in the final quarter, demand picked up noticeably.”
As at December 31, 2020, the HOMAG Group had 6,942 employees (December 31, 2019: 6,569). However, it must be noted that the Group gained around 550 employees through the first-time consolidation of two companies acquired in 2020, HOMAG China Golden Field in China and System TM in Denmark.
In order to maintain close dialog with customers despite the canceled trade fairs and reduced personal contact, the HOMAG Group relied increasingly on digital formats. One such example was the HOMAG Treff 2020 in-house event, which was organized in a hybrid format. During this global event, customers could participate live in over 500 activities for a period of 60 days, either on site in small groups or online via a digital platform. Ralf W. Dieter says: “The feedback we received from customers and from sales was very good.”
The CEO is optimistic about the future: “Many of our customers are benefiting from the fact that people are spending more time at home due to the pandemic and are investing in their living space, for example in new furniture or kitchens. As a result, we, too, are expecting a growth stimulus.”
Company Background
The HOMAG Group is the world's leading provider of integrated solutions for production in the woodworking industry and woodworking shops. Its 14 specialized production sites, about 20 Group-owned sales and service companies and approximately 60 exclusive sales partners worldwide make the company a unique system provider. Backed by a workforce of some 7,000 employees the HOMAG Group offers its customers solutions for digitized production, based on digital data continuity from point of sale through the entire production process, combined with a comprehensive software suite. In addition, the open ecosystem "tapio" (open Internet-of-Things platform) maps the data flow along the entire value chain of the timber industry. The HOMAG Group has been majority-owned by the Dürr Group since October 2014.
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain statements relating to the future. Future oriented 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.