Koenig & Bauer Exceeds EBIT Forcast for 2021 on the Basis of Its Preliminary Figures

  • EBIT margin of roughly 2.6% exceeding company’s own forecast of 2.0%
  • P24x efficiency programme taking effect with gross savings of around €46m in 2021 
  • Good order situation: 32% increase in orders to around €1,291m
  • Medium-term targets confirmed: EBIT margin of more than 7.0% on revenue of €1.3bn

Koenig & Bauer AG, Würzburg  has announced on the basis of its preliminary and as yet unaudited figures that it has exceeded its own forecast for preliminary Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for 2021.

Despite the ongoing pandemic in 2021 and a challenging procurement environment, EBIT was achieved through the acceleration of the savings effects in the P24x efficiency programme and the more efficient implementation of the related personnel measures. This was also due to a high earnings contribution from the Special segment in the fourth quarter in particular.

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Improved operating earnings in the individual segments

Compared to the other segments in the Koenig & Bauer Group, the Sheetfed segment tends to be early-cyclical due to its shorter production and supply chains.

Despite the continued noticeable interest in the innovative solutions for corrugated board and digital printing in Digital & Webfed, the segment was still impacted by start-up costs and investments in further product development in addition to the customers’ pandemic-related purchasing restraint in 2021. By contrast, the Special segment recorded an increasing contribution to earnings from the second quarter of 2021 and especially in the final quarter.
Medium-term targets confirmed

Koenig & Bauer confirms its medium-term targets of revenue of €1.3bn, an EBIT margin of at least 7% and a reduction in net working capital to a maximum of 25% of full-year revenue, which is to be achieved after the completion of the P24x efficiency programme. As Pleßke adds: “Adopted in December 2021, our Exceeding Print strategy, which, as the name suggests, goes beyond the “printing process”, will also contribute to this. We are deliberately focusing on the three strategic fields of action in order to become even more sustainable, more digital and more modular.”

The company plans to publish its forecast for 2022 together with the presentation of its audited annual financial statements and the annual report for 2021 no later than on March 30, 2022, also in view of the current developments in the Ukraine crisis and, resulting from this, the high level of uncertainty over the impact on the global economy. Koenig & Bauer will be holding a conference call (in English) for analysts and investors on 30 March 2022. The conference call will be available on the website later.