Business figures for January to September 2013
- Sales in line with the previous year
- Further improvement in EBIT margin to 7.7%
- Incoming orders within the target corridor
- High order backlog ensures capacity utilization until well into 2014
In the year to date, Dürr has recorded consistently heavy demand from the emerging markets, with order receipts from these regions rising by 5% to € 1 billion, equivalent to 56% of Group order intake. In China alone, orders rose by 9% to € 568 million. The Brazilian market was also strong, while business in Europe contracted as expected.
Service business grew by 6% in the first nine months of 2013, widening its share of consolidated sales from 21% to 22%. Modernization and conversion activities, which form part of service business, grew at a disproportionately strong rate. Ralf W. Dieter: “We expect sustained growth in the conversion and modernization market as many automotive production facilities are beginning to show their age. In addition, Dürr offers numerous innovative technologies to ensure swift amortization of plant modernization projects.”
Over the last few months, Dürr has broadened its capacities to accommodate the greater market volume. New office and production facilities have gone into operation in China, Mexico, Germany and Poland, for example. All told, capital spending rose by 54% to € 34.1 million in the first nine months of 2013. In addition, Dürr acquired the environmental technology specialist Luft- und Thermotechnik Bayreuth GmbH (LTB) in July.
Dürr stepped up its innovation course, increasing R&D spending by 12.6% to
€ 29.5 million. On the other hand, selling and administrative expenses climbed by only 4.5%. The financial result improved substantially by € 8.3 million to
€ -14.9 million, primarily reflecting the absence of non-recurring strains. As a result, earnings after tax rose by a disproportionately strong 22.9% to € 87.6 million. Ralph Heuwing, CFO: “We expect further improvements in our financial result beyond 2013 as well.”
Operating cash flow came to € 45.4 million, thus substantially exceeding the previous year’s figure (€ -18.4 million). The net financial status improved by € 62.8 million over September 30, 2012, coming to € 37.0 million. Equity climbed by 13% to € 464.7 million, while the equity ratio widened from 23.5% to 23.9%. A greater increase was prevented by the 10.9% increase in total assets.
As of September 30, 2013, Dürr had 8,128 employees and thus 617 more than one year earlier. In Germany, staff numbers rose by 382 to 3,711, with 142 employees joining the Group as a result of the first-time consolidation of LTB and other companies.
OUTLOOK
Dürr expects a substantial increase in order intake in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with the third quarter (€ 504.0 million). Full-year orders should have no trouble reaching the target corridor of € 2.3 - 2.5 billion. Similarly, the full-year goal of € 2.4 - 2.6 billion for sales should be realistically achieved from today´s point of view, with Dürr expecting further acceleration in top-line growth over the previous year in the final quarter of 2013. As announced in the adhoc release of September 30, 2013, the EBIT margin will reach 7.5 - 8.0%.
