Tuesday, November 13, 2018
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.
Tags: 2018, first nine months, Homag group, increased sales revenues
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