- Operating EBIT margin of 7.5% matching the previous year´s level
- Substantial increase in order backlog
- High cash flow in the third quarter (€ 138.5 million)
- Full-year guidance reaffirmed
Dürr registered particularly strong demand in North America, where order intake was up 55.2% to € 930.4 million. Orders in Germany and the rest of Europe climbed by 15% and 19%, respectively. This more than made up for the effects of a temporary decline in demand in China (down 40%). Ralf W. Dieter: “The high order intake is a result of our broad regional footprint, which allows us to offset temporary demand fluctuations in individual regions. Looking forward, Dürr sees additional opportunities from electromobility. We are expecting more orders for the delivery of production technology for electric vehicles in China and the United States in particular from 2017.”
Dürr’s service business continued to grow, with revenue rising by just under 10%. It now contributes 27.5% to consolidated sales.
The operating EBIT of € 196.7 million does not include extraordinary effects of € -15.2 million (9M 2015: € -20.3 million). Among other things, these extraordinary items comprise expenses in connection with purchase price allocation (HOMAG), the sale of the cleaning technology business (Dürr Ecoclean) as well as the closure of two smaller facilities in Weinsberg (Germany, HOMAG) and Zistersdorf (Austria, painting systems). Non-recurring income of € 4.9 million arose from the sale of a real estate asset in the United States.
Spending on research and development increased by 10.2%. During its “Open House” event held in October under the motto “digital@DÜRR”, the company unveiled its latest-generation painting robot as well as several smart innovations for digitally networked production processes. Capital expenditure dropped by 9.2% as Dürr has now completed the construction of a new facility in the United States. Net finance expense improved by € 7.7 million to € 11.1 million. This reflected lower extraordinary expenses from the acquisition of HOMAG and the availability to HOMAG of less expensive group funding.
At € 54.0 million, the cash flow from operating activities was positive in the first nine months of 2016 (9M 2015: € -2.8 million). The strong cash flow of € 138.5 million in the third quarter was driven by the expected recovery in net working capital. Against this backdrop, Dürr achieved a positive net financial status of € 21.1 million as of September 30, 2016. The equity ratio widened from 22.2% on September 30, 2015 to 23.4%. CFO Ralph Heuwing: “The positive trend in cash flow will continue in the fourth quarter. We have a very solid balance sheet that will allow us to continue our acquisition strategy after the good experience gained with HOMAG.”
The group workforce rose by 2.1% over the end of 2015 to 15,167 employees. In Germany, employee numbers grew by 1.9% to 8,182.
Outlook
Dürr projects full-year order intake of € 3.5 to 3.7 billion and sales of € 3.4 to 3.6 billion in 2016. The EBIT margin before extraordinary effects is still expected to come in at between 7.0 and 7.5%, with Dürr presumably achieving the top end of this range. Assuming that the expected book gain from the sale of the cleaning technology business (Dürr Ecoclean) arises in the fourth quarter of 2016, an EBIT margin of between 7.5 and 8.0% including all extraordinary effects appears realistic.
