Stable growth in the first half of 2017

The Neutraubling-based company continued its stable growth in the first half of 2017. Overall, revenue improved 13.8 per cent year-on-year to EUR 1,775.2 million. Adjusted for acquisitions, revenue was up 10.2 per cent. The increase was partly due to a relatively low baseline of sales in the first half of 2016. The strongest revenue growth came in the North and Central America, Asia-Pacific, and South America/Mexico regions in the period from January to June 2017.

Order intake increased 11.0 per cent in the first half of 2017 to EUR 1,779.3 million. Adjusted for acquisitions, order intake was up 4.7 per cent year-on-year. Orders growth in Western Europe and Latin America was higher than overall orders growth. Order intake in China was lower. In the Asia-Pacific, North America, and Middle East/Africa sales regions, order intake was stable. At EUR 1,148.8 million, orders on hand at the end of June 2017 were up 1.1 per cent over the year-earlier period.

The manufacturer of filling and packaging technology improved earnings before taxes (EBT) by 12.8 per cent to EUR 121.0 million in the period from January to June 2017 despite a highly competitive market situation. At 6.8 per cent, the EBT margin for the first six months of 2017 was nearly unchanged year-on-year (previous year: 6.9 %). After taxes, net income was up 10.8 per cent to EUR 82.4 million. Earnings per share increased from EUR 2.37 in the previous year to EUR 2.64.

The ratio of average working capital for the past four quarters to revenue came to 26.3 per cent, after 25.5 per cent in the year-earlier period. However, the ratio is an improvement over the first quarter of 2017 (26.8 %). The return on capital employed (ROCE) increased to 16.3 per cent (previous year: 15.6 %). In the period from January to June 2017, the company generated operating free cash flow of – EUR 126.7 million (previous year: –EUR 155.5 million), which is an improvement of around EUR 30 million.

The company’s revenue growth target (excluding acquisitions) for the year 2017 as a whole remains four per cent. Profitability should be stable this year. The company expects the EBT margin to be around 7.0 per cent for the year 2017. For its third financial performance target, working capital to revenue, the company is forecasting 27 per cent for the current financial year.