Bobst achieves ‘significant improvement’ in results

The operating result reached 60.3 million CHF (68 million USD) compared to an operating result of 19 million CHF (21 million USD) in the previous year. The net result reached 27.7 million CHF (31 million USD) compared to a loss of five million CHF (5.6 million USD) in 2012.

The company had already outlined its 2013 performance, but has provided further detail to its strong results. Bobst said the significant improvements were achieved due to a strong growth in sales, a favorable product mix and due to the successful implementation of the group transformation program, which contributed 161 million CHF to the operating result by end 2013

The strong operating results together with a notable reduction in net working capital resulted in a significant cash in-flow from operating activities of 83.2 million CHF. This enabled the group to reduce net debt from 190.4 million CHF to 109 million CHHF year-on-year.

Operationally, 2013 started with an improved backlog of orders compared to the beginning of 2012. Order entries showed an increase for the first seven months of the year, slowed down from August to October 2013 and increased again at year end.

Sales in the second half of 2013 were stronger than during the first half of the year, and versus the same period in 2012, with all three business units and all geographical regions of the world providing a positive contribution to the full-year sales growth.

Sales of sheet-fed products increased by 7.6 percent, it said, with products for the folding carton industry as well as products for the corrugated equipment industry contributing to this improvement. Sales of web-fed products increased by 8.9 percent, very close to the all-time high achieved in 2008, while sales attributed to services and spare parts increased by 5.7 percent.

Looking ahead, Bobst Group said that the business environment in 2014 will be similar to 2013 – unbalanced and challenging, with consolidation likely to occur among both its customers and competitors, particularly in Europe.

‘We expect to have opportunities to leverage our competitive advantages and we will continue to reap the profitability improvement and value creation benefits of our group transformation,’ Bobst Group stated in its financial report. ‘On a global level, the folding carton industry is regaining strength after a long period of recession, corrugated is expected to remain strong and flexible packaging will remain stable – based on positive economic indicators worldwide.

‘Regionally, Europe and South America are likely to remain fragile, North America and South-east Asia are expected to maintain good levels of activity, while investment levels in India and AMEA will depend on local political confidence and exchange rates. China is expected to continue its good level of activity although tempered by increasing overcapacity and price wars.’

It concluded: ‘The investment mood remains volatile, but our markets are active and our product portfolio responds to a large extent to our customers’ demands. Some new products will be launched around mid-year 2014, keeping up the bookings momentum for the last quarter. The underlying 2013 results demonstrate the robustness of the group transformation strategy and 2014 profitability level will be in line with the Group financial targets set for 2015. Profitability increase, value creation and special investments in innovations will be the top priorities this year.’