Heidelberg sets a new course following a successful financial year

Print Solutions

Heidelberg has exceeded its targets in the challenging financial year 2022/2023. The technology company generated sales of €2.435 billion compared with €2.183 billion in the previous year, which represents an increase of around 12%.

‘We achieved a good outcome in a challenging environment in the financial year just closed,’ said CEO Dr Ludwin Monz. ‘Faced with further cost increases and a level of profitability that remains low, Heidelberg is initiating a value creation programme.’

The aim is to further boost the company’s financial strength and step up investments in growth areas.

The new business strategy will lay the foundation for future investments. With its dual track strategy, the company is pursuing two key strategic approaches. First, it is looking to make an impression on the printing market beyond its business with sheetfed offset presses, especially in the packaging market and digital printing. And, secondly, as it has already done with its wallbox business, Heidelberg will be unlocking new markets alongside its core business.

To achieve theses goals, Heidelberg requires the necessary resources – whether to further strengthen its product portfolio in the growing packaging sector or to fund a development budget for the successful expansion of digital printing. With this in mind, the company is looking to significantly increase its free cash flow in the medium term. ‘We will provide and redistribute the resources for growth through our own internal efforts so as to successfully implement our growth strategy,’ explained CFO Tania von der Goltz. That particularly applies to the market environment, which remains challenging and shapes the outlook for 2024.

As the global demand for packaged goods continues to increase, packaging and label printing is enjoying particular growth, making it an important core segment for Heidelberg. The Packaging Solutions segment already accounts for around half of the company’s sales. This proportion has gradually increased in recent years, a development to which innovations have also contributed. The new generation of Speedmaster XL 106 sheetfed offset presses enables folding carton manufacturers, in particular, to increase their net output by up to 10%. The Boardmaster flexographic web printing system, a completely new development, doubles the productivity of price sensitive folding carton printing compared to the predecessor model. Heidelberg intends to use this technology to support its strategy and growth. In line with its dual track strategy, it is also focusing on growth in digital printing – a segment that is enjoying the strongest growth in the label market, with a rate of around 6%. The company is looking to build on its position in this market with Gallus One, the first fully digital and highly automated label printing system.

Thanks to its charging solutions for electric cars, Heidelberg has successfully positioned itself in the growth market of domestic electric mobility in Germany through its subsidiary Amperfied GmbH. To reach a larger customer base in the future, the company is further driving its expansion into other European countries. A wallbox with a solar function is also being added to the product portfolio to benefit from the growing number of domestic photovoltaic installations.