A preliminary second quarter financial report from German sheetfed press manufacturer Heidelberg reveals slight sales gains over last year, but the company still projects to be losing money this fiscal year.
Through its second fiscal quarter (July 1 to September 30, 2010) the company’s incoming orders were up over the same period for the previous year, and sales for the quarter climbed by some 130 million Euro over Q2 last year, to 633 million EUR ($904.6 million).
Operating losses for the quarter however are expected to be in a range of -5 million to -10 million Euro, marking a improvement over the previous year’s second quarter result (-65 million Euro) and the first quarter of this fiscal year (-35 million Euro).
"In the medium term, expected growth within the strategically important areas packaging printing, services, and consumables as well as continuing favorable developments in the emerging countries will additionally support Heidelberg’s success," stated Heidelberg CEO Bernhard Schreier in the company’s release.
Net results for the quarter, when financing costs and non-recurring expenditures for the repayment of loans are factored in, reveal a projected loss of around 50 million Euro (Q2 previous year was a 27 million Euro loss).
Assuming no further major disruptions to the economy, Heidelberg is "striving" to record a break-even operating result for the fiscal year, but the company still expects a significant net loss for the 12-month period.
The company’s stock price is trading around 3.44 Euro, down from a 2010 peak of around 8.30 Euro in June of this year. The stock was priced as high as 40.6 Euro in mid-July of 2007.
* Photo: copyright HEIDELBERGER DRUCKMASCHINEN AG
