Heidelberg achieves targets for year - significant net profit after taxes following best quarter since 2008

Heidelberg (ots) -

- Annual sales slightly up - record Q4 sales of EUR845 million
- EBITDA of EUR179 million at previous year's level despite drupa
costs
- Annual net profit of EUR36 million and profit of EUR46 million in
final quarter
- Free cash flow improves by nearly EUR60 million to EUR24 million
- "Heidelberg goes digital!" development strategy on track - modified
corporate structure takes effect as of April 1, 2017

In the final quarter of financial year 2016/2017 (January 1, 2017
to March 31, 2017), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg)
recorded its best sales and result since 2008. With a further
improvement in the net profit after taxes to EUR36 million (previous
year: EUR28 million) - based on preliminary figures - the Group has
achieved the stated objective for the year as a whole of a sustained
return to profitability. The improvement of nearly EUR60 million in
the free cash flow to EUR24 million also underlines the success of
the strategic realignment towards a digital company that has been
initiated.

"Heidelberg has achieved its targets for 2016/2017 thanks to an
excellent final quarter. The net profit after taxes improved once
again and we've created a solid basis for the company's further
development," said CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer. "We now need to gear our
strategy towards becoming a digital company focused on customer
needs. This will also bring the expected growth in sales and a
further substantial improvement in profitability in the future," he
added.

Sales after 12 months were slightly up at EUR2.524 billion
(previous year: EUR2.512 billion). In the final quarter alone, sales
increased by just under 20 percent to EUR845 million (previous year:
EUR710 million). The more substantial growth in sales originally
planned for the year as a whole did not materialize due to planned
acquisitions being postponed until the new reporting year. In the
period under review, incoming orders of EUR2.593 billion bucked the
industry trend by being significantly up on the previous year's level
(EUR2.492 billion). Despite the costs for the drupa industry trade
show of EUR10 million in financial year 2016/2017, EBITDA excluding
special items in the reporting period amounted to EUR179 million
(previous year: EUR189 million, including non-recurring income of
EUR19 million from the PSG takeover). This resulted in an EBITDA
margin of 7.1 percent (previous year excluding PSG: 6.8 percent). The
EUR85 million operating profit (EBITDA before special items) for the
fourth quarter was over 20 percent higher than in the same period of
the previous year. Special items in the reporting period amounted to
some EUR-18 million (previous year: EUR-21 million). Lower interest
costs resulted in a further significant improvement in the financial
result to EUR-56 million (previous year: EUR-65 million). This led to
a net result after taxes of EUR36 million (previous year: EUR28
million). In the final quarter, the net profit after taxes climbed
from EUR35 million to EUR46 million.

The free cash flow at the end of the financial year reached a
clearly positive value of EUR24 million (previous year: EUR-32
million). Operational enhancements and efficient cash flow management
thus resulted in an improvement of EUR56 million compared with the
previous year. In the quarter under review, the net financial debt
fell to EUR252 million (March 31, 2016: EUR281 million) and the
leverage remained well below the target value of 2 at 1.4.

"We've significantly increased the free cash flow and further
improved our balance sheet quality in reporting year 2016/2017. This
lays a firm foundation for the Group to independently finance our
transition into the digital world and step up our pursuit of
attractive takeover targets. We'll be announcing some successes in
this regard in the near future," Heidelberg CFO Dirk Kaliebe
commented on the developments.

Strategic focus - Heidelberg goes digital!

Heidelberg has thus created an excellent basis for the stategic
development towards a digital company that was announced with the
publications for the first quarter at the beginning of February 2017.
The Group's restructuring for the company's digital future took
effect on April 1, 2017 under the motto "Heidelberg goes digital!".
This move saw the Heidelberg Digital Technology (HDT) and Heidelberg
Digital Business & Services (HDB) segments established. HDT combines
sheetfed offset, label printing, and postpress operations and is
responsible for developing, producing, and marketing the appropriate
technologies and products for new business models. HDB, meanwhile, is
where Heidelberg manages its operations relating to services,
consumables, remarketed equipment, digital printing technology, and
solutions throughout the value-added chain. The third segment -
Heidelberg Financial Services (HDF) - will remain the same. Numerous
measures are being introduced in the new financial year and some of
them have already been implemented.

The objective is to increasingly generate substantial growth
potential with a comprehensive portfolio developed for specific
customer needs throughout the value-added chain - from equipment and
consumables all the way through to services. At the same time,
enhanced efficiency will lead to further improvements in
profitability at Heidelberg.

Next important date:

Heidelberg will provide details of the future corporate strategy
and the resultant outlook at the Annual Accounts Press Conference for
financial year 2016/2017 on June 8, 2017 at the Group headquarters in
Wiesloch.

For additional details about the company and image material,
please visit the Press Lounge of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG at
www.heidelberg.com.

Important note:

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on
assumptions and estimations by the Management Board of Heidelberger
Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft. Even though the Management Board
is of the opinion that those assumptions and estimations are
realistic, the actual future development and results may deviate
substantially from these forward-looking statements due to various
factors, such as changes in the macro-economic situation, in the
exchange rates, in the interest rates and in the print media
industry. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Aktiengesellschaft gives no
warranty and does not assume liability for any damages in case the
future development and the projected results do not correspond with
the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Heidelberg Group -
preliminary figures for 2016/2017

in EUR millions

FY 16/17 FY 15/16 Q4 16/17 Q4 15/16
(4/1/16- (4/1/15- (1/1/17- (1/1/16-
3/31/17) 3/31/16) 3/31/17) 3/31/16)

Sales 2.524 2.512 845 710
Incoming orders 2.593 2.492 604 588

EBITDA
(excl. special items) 179 189* 85 70

Operating result
(EBIT,
excl. special items) 108 116 65 51
Special items -18 -21 -10 +3

Financial result -56 -65 -14 -23
Net result after taxes 36 28 46 35

Free cash flow +24 -32 +35 +5
Net debt 252 281
Headcount 11.511 11.565

* Including a positive non-recurring effect of EUR19 million from
initial consolidation of the newly acquired PSG Group.

In individual cases, rounding could result in discrepancies
concerning the totals and percentages contained in this press
release.

Further information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG

Corporate Public Relations
Thomas Fichtl
Phone: +49 6222 82-67123
Fax: +49 6222 82-67129
E-mail: Thomas.Fichtl@heidelberg.com

Investor Relations
Robin Karpp
Phone: +49 6222 82-67120
Fax: +49 6222 82-99 67120
E-mail: robin.karpp@heidelberg.com

Original-Content von: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell