Consumables

technotrans starts the year as expected despite initial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Friday 22. May 2020 - The technotrans Group has started the new financial year in line with expectations. Consolidated revenue in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to EUR 52.2 million, which was 1.7 percent slightly below the previous year. The Groups EBIT declined by 47 percent to EUR 1.8 million compared to the first quarter of 2019. This includes announced extraordinary expenses for structural and personnel adjustments of EUR 1.3 million as well as a positive one-off income of EUR 0.6 million from the release of a provision for a concluded fine proceeding.

The EBIT margin fell from 6.3 to 3.4 percent. Due to the currently unforeseeable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Management withdrew the existing forecast for the 2020 financial year on April 30, 2020. The announcement of an updated forecast is not possible at present and will be made at a later point of time. technotrans’ financial situation remains sound – Liquidity is assured for the foreseeable future.
“The performance of the technotrans Group in the first quarter was within the forecast ranges, despite the initial adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and weaker business in the printing industry,” says Dirk Engel, Spokesman of the Board of Management of technotrans SE.
The downturn in revenue in the printing industry in the first quarter was greater than expected, at around 7 percent. This was due to a weak start to the fiscal year by OEM and end customers. In addition, this sector will be lacking a major impetus for the third and fourth quarters due to the cancellation of drupa. The world’s leading trade fair for the printing industry has been postponed to April 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In markets outside the printing industry, revenue rose by around two percent overall compared with the first quarter of 2019.
Following the difficulties overcome in connection with the new ERP implementation in the past financial year, operating activities at gwk Gesellschaft Wärme Kältetechnik mbH returned to normal. The company achieved quarterly revenue that was above the previous year’s level. Revenue in the laser and machine tool industry developed steadily in line with expectations.
In the field of e-mobility, the number of project orders continued to rise, especially for public transport. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, however, revenue of cable cooling systems for high-power charging stations (HPC) are showing a noticeable decline. The reason for this is the continued low availability of fast-loading vehicles. technotrans was consequently unable to match the high level of revenue for the previous year in this area. The other areas of the growth markets, such as medical- and scanner technology, developed positively as expected.
The Technology segment proved stable, with revenue of EUR 38 million in the period under review matching the prior-year level. In contrast, the Services division recorded a 5.5 percent decline in revenue to EUR 14.1 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was due to the partly drastic access restrictions imposed on customers and the limited travel possibilities in some core regions.
Announcement of an updated forecast currently not possible
In view of the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economic environment, the Board of Management expects the technotrans Group to experience burdens in the coming quarters. The health of our employees continues to be our top priority. “In the current situation, the primary goal is to protect all employees from infection and to ensure production for as long as possible.”, explains Dirk Engel. The comprehensive pandemic package of measures has proved to be effective to date. Since the spread of the pandemic, business operations have been maintained at almost all locations, especially in the production plants. “In this context, we have taken operational measures, including short-time allowance, and will extend these where necessary to minimise the economic impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic,” says Dirk Engel.
“Against the background of the extreme global economic situation, the previous annual forecast is losing its basis for calculation. The impact of this pandemic on the further business progress of the technotrans Group cannot currently be quantified with sufficient accuracy,” explains Engel. For this reason, the Board of Management is currently refraining from announcing an updated forecast for the 2020 financial year. A new forecast will only be published as soon as it is sufficiently reliable. “The decisive factor for the further course of business will now be how quickly the economy will return to a new “normality”, based on which a new forecast can be derived,” says Engel.
Irrespective of the COVID 19 pandemic, the Board of Management remains committed to the strategic reorientation of technotrans. As planned, the Group implemented the first structural measures to streamline the organisation and to increase staff flexibility and efficiency in March. In the course of this, the sales department will also focus more strongly on the end customer markets.
technotrans is now generally well positioned and financially stable. The potential of different markets, the strong customer orientation and the measures initiated to improve the competitive position, both technologically and through cost reduction, form the basis for sustainable growth of the Group. The Board of Management therefore continues to adhere to its strategic medium-term goals.
The Annual General Meeting convened for Wednesday May 20, 2020 will be held virtually for the first time. Video and audio transmission of the entire Annual General Meeting is carried out digitally, as are the exercising of voting rights and the granting of proxies by the shareholders.