The key financial figures developed as follows:
- In the second quarter of 2018, order intake, at 1,736.5 MEUR, was well above the previous year’s reference figure (+43.4% versus Q2 2017: 1,211.3 MEUR). All business areas were able to increase their order intake compared to the previous year’s reference period. Thus, the positive trend in order intake in the preceding quarters continued (Q3 2017: 1,341.2 MEUR, Q4 2017: 1,467.0 MEUR, Q1 2018: 1,532.8 MEUR). As a result, order intake in the first half of 2018 developed very favorably, rising to 3,269.3 MEUR. This is an increase of 18.0% compared to the previous year’s reference period (H1 2017: 2,771.3 MEUR).
- According to Andritz Group the order backlog as of June 30, 2018 amounted to 6,841.1 MEUR and increased by 7.2% compared to the end of 2017 (6,383.0 MEUR) as a result of the increase in order intake in the preceding quarters.
- Sales rose in the second quarter of 2018 by 5.7% compared to the previous year’s reference period (Q2 2017: 1,392.8 MEUR) and reached 1,472.1 MEUR. This almost entirely made up for the decline in sales in the first quarter, with the result that sales in the first half of 2018, at 2,763.1 MEUR, were only slightly below the level of the previous year’s reference period (-0.6% versus H1 2017: 2,779.0 MEUR).
- Due to the increase in sales and favorable development of the Pulp & Paper business area, the EBITA in the second quarter increased to 94.6 MEUR and thus was up by 9.4% compared to the previous year’s reference figure (86.5 MEUR) adjusted by the extraordinary positive effect of approximately 25 MEUR (mainly attributable to sale of the Schuler Technical Center in Tianjin, China). Compared to the EBITA for Q2 2017 including this extraordinary positive effect, the EBITA in the second quarter of 2018 decreased by 13.9%. In the first half of 2018, the EBITA amounted to 166.3 MEUR and was 8.8% below the previous year’s reference figure (182.3 MEUR) adjusted for the positive extraordinary effect. This is due to the drop in earnings in the first quarter of 2018, which was marked by declining sales and cost overruns in the Metals business area. Compared to the EBITA for H1 2017 including the extraordinary effect, the EBITA for the first half of 2018 fell by 19.8%.
- The net income (without non-controlling interests) fell in the second quarter of 2018 to 56.6 MEUR (Q2 2017: 67.8 MEUR). In the first half of 2018, the net income (without noncontrolling interests) amounted to 100.6 MEUR (H1 2017: 130.8 MEUR).
The Andritz Group expects unchanged stable development of sales in the 2018 business year as compared to the previous year. Profitability (EBITA margin) should also continue to develop positively and reach roughly the level of the previous year, taking account of the positive special effect recorded last year.
