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Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) has started financial year
2026/2027 by systematically continuing its transition to a more broadly
based technology company. HEIDELBERG is setting the course for
future growth with a number of strategic initiatives. Besides expanding
its core business by taking over manroland sheetfed lifecycle business
and POLAR production operations, the company is also tapping into
additional potential by taking advantage of new market opportunities
arising from energy storage systems and the European defense sector.
Integration of the manroland sheetfed Group’s lifecycle business
and global sales and service companies, together with full acquisition
of POLAR postpress systems, has further enhanced the strategic
position of HEIDELBERG as a systems integrator in its core business.
As part of the manroland sheetfed transaction, HEIDELBERG has also
secured the intellectual property rights for the Roland 900 /
Cartonmaster in the large-format sheetfed offset segment. The first
press of this model has already been sold, and HEIDELBERG is currently
looking into further production and development options for this system
at a low-cost location. In this way, the company is reinforcing its
leading position in the printing and packaging sector.
Live Hub opened to demonstrate integrated drone defense
At the recent international aerospace trade show ILA Berlin, ONBERG
signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a further joint venture – with
the Ukrainian drone developer Skyeton. The Skyeton portfolio
includes high-tech, combat-proven surveillance drones, which are being
combined with the HEIDELBERG unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to create an
autonomous system of systems. The unmanned air-ground systems that are
currently being developed in rapid innovation cycles in Ukraine are
increasingly regarded as a future defense solution. In July, ONBERG
opened a Live Hub to demonstrate integrated counter-UAS
capabilities at its Brandenburg site, where decision-makers from public
authorities, operators of critical infrastructure, the armed forces, and
industry can see exactly how integrated protection from enemy drones
works in practice.
The move by HD Advanced Technologies into the production of sodium-ion
battery storage systems is also opening up new potential. The
company has teamed up with Swiss business PHENOGY to collaborate
on a technology and industry platform in this sector. As an initial
step, HD Advanced Technologies will start handling the industrial
manufacturing of complete energy storage systems for PHENOGY – from
procurement and production through to rollout, installation, service,
and maintenance. The two companies are also laying the groundwork for a joint
venture focusing on the development and industrial manufacturing of
sodium-ion battery cells based on PHENOGY’s cell chemistry and a
specific printing process from HEIDELBERG.
“This financial year at HEIDELBERG is all about investments in line with
our strategic agenda. We are looking to further strengthen the company’s
market position and tap into new potential. This will create the basis
for profitable growth and sustainable value enhancement in the coming
years,” says Jürgen Otto, CEO of HEIDELBERG.
Solid start to FY 2026/2027
During the first quarter of financial year 2026/2027 (April 1 to June
30, 2026), underlying conditions continued to be challenging for
HEIDELBERG. Despite this, the incoming orders figure of € 537
million was only slightly down on the equivalent quarter of the previous
year (€ 559 million) and therefore laid a solid foundation for further
business development. The phasing-out of a state-subsidized investment
program in Italy had a massive impact in the first quarter, reducing
incoming orders there by over € 60 million compared with the
corresponding quarter of the previous year. The positive developments in
China and the rest of Asia only partly compensated for this.
Sales totaled € 404 million and, as expected, were therefore
below the figure for the equivalent period of the previous year (€ 466
million). Sales were significantly higher in China, the UK, and Brazil,
but lower elsewhere, especially in the EMEA region. Adjusted for special
items, the EBITDA margin for the first quarter of financial year
2026/2027 was 0.2 percent (corresponding quarter of previous year: 4.4
percent), primarily due to the lower volume of sales. As is normally the
case at this point in the financial year, the free cash flow
after the first three months was negative, at € -77 million (equivalent
period of previous year: € -68 million). The net result after
taxes for the first quarter amounted to € -32 million (corresponding
period of previous year: € -11 million).
The HEIDELBERG Technology segment’s incoming orders and sales
after three months exceeded the level recorded in the equivalent period
of the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA remained stable at € -4 million. A
partly expected downturn in the EMEA region was a particular factor
contributing to the Print & Packaging Equipment segment’s
lower incoming orders and sales. In the Digital Solutions & Lifecycle
segment, incoming orders after three months were around 5 percent up on
the equivalent quarter of the previous year, while sales matched the
previous year’s quarterly figure.
“In our core business, we are targeting our investments toward growth
markets, which is also boosting our service, consumables, and spare
parts business,” says Dr. David Schmedding, Chief Technology & Sales
Officer at HEIDELBERG. “At the same time, we can increase the proportion
of repeat sales and better balance out new machine business, which tends
to depend on economic trends,” he adds.
Forecast for financial year 2026/2027 confirmed
The forecast for financial year 2026/2027 remains unchanged. The
company is expecting stable Group sales matching the previous
year’s level in financial year 2026/2027 and a noticeable
improvement in the adjusted EBITDA margin compared with the previous
year. It is assumed that there will be no substantial changes in
relevant exchange rates for business activities.
About HEIDELBERG:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) is a leading technology
company that has been standing for innovation, quality, and reliability
in mechanical engineering worldwide for 175 years. With a clear focus on
growth and as a total solution provider, HEIDELBERG is driving further
development in the core areas of packaging and digital printing,
software solutions, and lifecycle business with service and consumables
so that customers can achieve maximum productivity and efficiency. The
company is also focusing on expanding into new business areas such as
high-precision plant engineering with integrated control systems,
automation technology, robotics, and the growing green technologies
sector. With its strong international presence in approximately 170
countries, the creative power and expertise of its roughly 9,500
employees, its own production facilities in Europe, China, and the USA,
and one of the largest global sales and service networks, the company is
ideally positioned for future growth.
Image material and further information about the company are available
in the Investor
Relations portal and Press
Lounge of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG at www.heidelberg.com.
Important note:
This release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions
and estimates by the management of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Aktiengesellschaft. Even though the management is of the opinion that
these assumptions and estimates are accurate, the actual future
development and results may deviate substantially from these
forward-looking statements due to various factors, such as changes in
the overall economic situation, in exchange and interest rates, and
within the print media industry. Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Aktiengesellschaft provides no guarantee and assumes no liability for
future developments and results deviating from the assumptions and
estimates made in this press release.
Further information:
Corporate Communications
Thomas Fichtl
Phone: +49 6222 82-67123
E-mail: [email protected]
Investor Relations
Marc Schellenberger
Phone: +49 6222 82-6120
E-mail: [email protected]
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