Voith Paper's operational result decreased by 41% to Euro 84 million

Dec 12, 2012. /Lesprom Network/. The Voith Group has finished the fiscal year 2012 (ending September 30) satisfactorily in a challenging market environment, as the Group said in the press release received by Lesprom Network. The globally active family-owned company increased its Group sales by 2% to Euro 5.7 billion compared to the record value of the previous year. With Euro 5.7 billion, orders received were behind the excellent value of last year amounting to Euro 6.4 billion (-10%), which, among other things, was due to an extraordinarily high volume of major orders from the hydro power market. At Euro 6.1 billion per September 30, 2012, orders on hand were slightly above the previous record level (2011: Euro 6 billion). All key figures are positive, although on a lower level than in the past year. Despite the declining sales for graphic paper machines in the Group Division Voith Paper, Voith was able to generate one of the best operational results in the history of the Group. The operational result before non-recurring result was Euro 341 million (-18%), the net income amounted to Euro 114 million (-43%). "The year 2011/2012 has presented Voith with massive challenges. We have worked intensively on our profitability and our future growth, and laid crucial foundations to ensure that Voith can continue to grow profitably," said Dr. Hubert Lienhard, President and CEO of the Corporate Management Board of Voith GmbH at the company's Balance Sheet Press Conference. According to Dr. Hermann Jung, Chief Financial Officer of Voith, one of the key reasons for the stable business development despite this challenging market environment is the Group's broad portfolio. "We can offset declining sales in individual markets. Because we serve five core industries that follow different cycles: energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, transport & automotive. This portfolio has allowed us to grow during the economic crisis in 2009. We were also able to cushion the noticeable slump in the market for graphic paper machines," stated Jung. At Voith Paper, the pioneer of the paper industry, sales declined by 5% to Euro 1.7 billion due to adverse market conditions. Especially new business was severely affected by the structural slump in demand for graphic paper machines. Orders received dropped by 13% to Euro 1.7 billion. Voith has promptly introduced a restructuring program. The negative impact resulting from these measures has already been fully absorbed in the 2012 end-of-year accounts. The operational result of Voith Paper decreased by 41% to Euro 84 million.