First half of 2024

Lack of orders: Sales at Andritz are shrinking

The headquarters of Andritz AG in the Graz district of the same name

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The generally tense economic situation is now also making itself felt at the Styrian plant engineering company Andritz. There was a lack of major orders in the first half of the year and sales fell by three percent. Profits, on the other hand, were stable.

The leading company from the north of Graz announced its figures for the first half of the year on Thursday: Incoming orders fell by 18.4 percent, from 4.71 billion to 3.85 billion euros. Turnover fell by three percent to 3.99 billion euros. The bottom line was a stable profit of 223.8 million euros, an increase of one percent compared to the same period last year.

Growth in green products
"Thanks to growth in the service business and in green products, coupled with solid order processing, we were able to maintain our Group result at the previous year's level and slightly increase our profitability," said Group CEO Joachim Schönbeck. However, "selective capacity adjustments" were introduced due to the decline in incoming orders. The company also intends to focus on cost efficiency.

The Environment & Energy division recorded a significant increase in turnover of 15.7 percent, while the Pulp & Paper division fell by nine percent and the Hydropower division by 6.6 percent. The Metals division remained virtually unchanged with an increase of 0.2%.

The operating result (EBITA) barely budged, amounting to 333 million euros in the first half of the year, compared to 332.6 million euros in the same period of the previous year. However, there was an increase in profitability - the EBITA margin rose from 8.1% to 8.4%.

No rapid recovery in the markets
The company does not expect the markets to recover quickly in the second half of the year. However, project activity has increased in some markets. "Based on the order backlog, increasing demand for green products and growth in the service business, Andritz confirms its outlook for the 2024 financial year and expects stable sales and profitability (EBITA margin)," the company said.