Heidelberg Reports Incoming Orders Increased in Third Quarter

The Heidelberg Group's order backlog at the end of the third quarter improved slightly to EUR 626 million (previous quarter: EUR 617 million).

Much better earnings
At EUR -13 million, the operating result for the third quarter, excluding special items, was much better than the previous quarter's figure of EUR -65 million. This was due in large part to the slight increase in sales and the growing savings resulting from the package of cost-cutting measures. Following agreement on a reconciliation of interests with employee representatives in October 2009, it was possible to reverse parts of the provisions for the cost-cutting program. This resulted in income of EUR 30 million from special items in the third quarter and produced a positive operating result, including special items, of EUR 17 million for this quarter. The cumulative operating result after nine months, excluding special items, was EUR -141 million (previous year, excluding special items: EUR -45 million).