In the first six months of financial year 2011/2012 (April 1 to September 30, 2011), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) significantly improved its operating result while recording stable sales.
Incoming orders for the first half-year totaled EUR 1.333 billion. After adjustment for exchange rate effects, this was around 5 percent below the high level for the same period the previous year (EUR 1.436 billion), which was influenced by the IPEX and ExpoPrint trade shows. The Heidelberg Group's order backlog at the end of the second quarter amounted to EUR 731 million, which was slightly higher than the previous quarter (EUR 718 million).
Sales for the first six months totaled EUR 1.180 billion (EUR 1.209 billion after adjustment for exchange rate effects), which was on a par with the previous year's level of EUR 1.196 billion.
Over the same period, the operating result excluding special items improved significantly to EUR -21 million (previous year: EUR -41 million). Amounting to EUR 3 million, the special items mainly consisted of personnel-related expenditure. In the previous year, special items yielded an income of EUR 22 million.