Gildemeister said its sales, orders and results all showed significant improvements, but the current quarter could prove more difficult.
In a statement about Q2 activity, the machinery supplier said sales rose 18% to €916.8 million, orders jumped 22% to around €1.2 billion and earnings after taxes rose to €26.2 million from €1.5 million in the second three months of 2011. The order backlog within the group amounted to some €1.1 billion on 30 June, it said, a 40% rise from that date last year.
Orders are expected to slow down this quarter due to seasonal factors, the company said, noting that the current macroeconomic environment has made predictions difficult. "Statements on future business performance will become more volatile."
Despite on-going concerns about the Eurozone crisis, the company said it remains confident about its prospects in the near term. "In the second half of the year we are generally planning to continue our good performance. We expect stimulus to come from the international autumn trade fairs starting in September – the IMTS in Chicago, the AMB in Stuttgart, the BIMU in Milan and the JIMTOF in Tokyo."
According to the company, a number of world regions are providing reasons for optimism. "The Asian markets, America and the Eastern European markets are persistently developing positively." However, the euro crisis has hurt southern Europe. "The willingness to invest (there) is continuing to decline."
The company confirmed its previous forecasts for 2012: "In the current financial year we are expecting order intake for the first time of more than €2 billion. We are planning sales revenues of more than €1.9 billion and for the whole year we intend to achieve EBT of more than €100 million as well as net income for the year of more than €65 million. This planning is based on current market forecasts and does not take account of the euro debt crisis spreading any further. Due to the positive outlook for business and earnings, we plan to distribute a higher dividend per share for financial year 2012 than in the previous year."
Sourced from etmm-online.com
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