Müller Martini at the World Publishing Expo in Amsterdam
Restructuring of Heidelberg Group continues
M
üller Martini to unveil the highly flexible and
cost-effective NewsGrip F conveyor at theWorld
Publishing Expo (October 13 to 15) inAmsterdam.
Müller Martini’s mailroom experts will show visitors how
newspaper producers can successfully meet today’s chal-
lenges.
End products geared toward target groups, shorter
lead times and the resulting increase in the complexity
of production process are challenges for newspaper and
mail-shot producers. Companies should not lose sight of
the importance of added value under the increased pres-
sure of competition.
Müller Martini will prove its innovative strength in
themailroomequipment sector with the newNewsGrip F
conveyor, which will be unveiled at the World Publishing
Expo 2014. The backbone of the mailroom, the NewsGrip
F, impresses particularly with its cost-effectiveness as the
fastest and most economic conveyor in its class.
Management by numbers is increasingly important
for all graphic arts businesses. That requires systematic
and reliable production figures, which Connex.Mailroom,
the data and process management system from Müller
Martini, provides in real-time. Connex.Mailroom records
andcompilestheproductiondataofallconnectedproduc-
tion lines, offers optimization options and creates trans-
parency in the mailroom.
The reliability of production systems in a mailroom is
crucial, since, in newspaper production especially, lead
times are often extremely short and equipment is heavily
used owing to shift operations. Müller Martini provides
reliable and comprehensive support with itsMMServices
portfolio. The customized investment protection program
ensures that existing equipment continues to run at opti-
mumproductivitylevelsforaslongaspossiblethroughout
its life cycle or brings productivity back to its peak.
Companies need to satisfy current customer needs
with cost-effective production and operate their existing
equipment for longer, while also staying as flexible as
possible so that they can meet future market demands.
Under the Fit for Profitability slogan, Müller Martini will
address precisely these challenges at this year’s World
Publishing Expo and present cost-effective solutions for
newspaper and mail-shot producers.
Mailroom experts from Müller Martini will be avail-
able to talk with visitors and show them how they can
increase their flexibility, improve the cost-effectiveness of
their existing mailroom and boost productivity with new
and innovative equipment.
H
eidelberg is systematically pressing ahead with
restructuring the Group. The strategic focus an-
nounced at the beginning of the financial year was
to streamline the postpress portfolio. This is expected to
yield an annual improvement in the result of some €30
million, most of this from financial year 2015/2016 on-
ward. In operational terms, the first quarter of financial
year 2014/2015 went as expected. The operating result
(EBITDA) was up on the previous year and moved back
into positive figures, even though sales in the reporting
period fell as anticipated. Thanks to a higher order back-
log at the end of the first quarter, the company is expect-
ing an increase in sales in the following quarters.
‘Measures aimed at boosting efficiency have ena-
bled us to achieve an operating profit even in light of the
persistently volatile market environment. Realigning our
portfolio will help us to further improve our profitability,’
said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach.
While being around 14 percent down on the figure
for the same quarter of the previous year, Group sales in
the first quarter were in line with expectations at €435
million. This development can be explained by the strong
year-end rally in the preceding quarter, renewed negative
exchange rate effects, and a slackening of business in the
Asia/Pacific region. In the other regions, sales matched
the previous year’s level.
Both EBITDA and EBIT in the first quarter were once
againuponthesamequarterofthepreviousyear.EBITDA
excludingspecialitemswaspositiveat€6million,follow-
ing a negative figure in the previous year. At € -11 million,
the result of operating activities excluding special items
was also better than the previous year’s figure of € -20
million. The operating result has therefore, been continu-
ously improving for just under two years now. Therewere
no special items in the quarter under review. Due to lower
financial income and the refinancing in the previous year,
the financial result for the first quarter was € -17 million
(previous year: € -12million).Nevertheless, income before
taxes improved from € -33 million to around € -28 million.
Overall, the net result for the first quarter was in line with
expectations at € -34 million.
Primarily due to the net loss for the quarter and pay-
ments totalling € 12 million for the Focus efficiency pro-
gram, the free cash flow after the first quarter was nega-
tive at € -66 million. Accordingly, the net debt rose to €
297 million but remains at a low level. This enabled us to
maintain the leverage at our target value of 2.
‘In addition to continuously improving the operating
result over the past two years, we have also succeeded
in getting the debt back down to a low level,’ said Hei-
delberg CFO Dirk Kaliebe. ‘At the same time, we placed
our financing on a stable footing, which lays the financial
foundation for restructuring the company,’ he added.
As already announced, theGroup is systematically re-
moving low-margin products from its portfolio. At the be-
ginning of August, for example, the company announced
the strategic realignment of its Postpress Commercial and
Postpress Packaging business areas. This will involve dis-
continuing production capacities, developing and manu-
facturing products and solutions through OEMpartners in
future, and/or outsourcing activities to partners. A total of
around 650 employees worldwide will be affected. The
Group expects these measures to yield an annual im-
provement in the result of some €30 million, most of this
from financial year 2015/2016 onward.
The actual development of sales and the result in fi-
nancial year 2014/2015 will depend to a great extent on
implementation of the portfolio optimisationmeasures in-
itiated. Heidelberg currently expects that sales in financial
year 2014/2015 will match those in the previous financial
year. As in the previous year, sales are once again likely
to be higher in the second half of the financial year than
in the first.
Having succeeded, as forecast, in achieving a positive
annual result in financial year 2013/2014, the declared
goal for financial year 2014/2015
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I
The GAPP
magazine
www.
thegapp
.co.za
Vol 4 Issue 4 • THE GAPP TIMES
Folding, stitching, cutting and inserting – the newspaper mailroomsystems fromMüllerMartini are optimally designed for the complex production of effective
newspaper and insert products geared to target groups.
