Heidelberg’s first quarter figures hit by Japanese disaster

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), one of the world’s leading suppliers to the print media industry has seen their first quarter sales affected by the Japan earthquake.

The print company had sales of €544 million ($722. 1 million) in quarter one which fell short of forecasted figures. As well as the troubles experienced in Japan, Heidelberg has also attributed the lower than expected sales figures to the shortage of liquidity recently experienced in the Chinese banking system.

According to the official release on its website,

“Preliminary incoming orders of EUR 665 million in line with expectations” compared with previous year figures of €786 million which was “largely due to additional orders generated from the IPEX trade show held during that reporting period.”

The company’s annual medium-term sales is set at €3 billion and expects good sales following the Drupa print media fair – the print industry’s international trade fair which will be held in Dusseldorf from 3 – 16 May 2012. Full first quarter financial results will be made available on 9 August 2011.

Headquarted in Heidelberg Germany, the print company is a major manufacturer of offset printing presses with a worldwide market share of 47%. Heidelberg provides a broad range of printing services to a broad market – from business card printing for large multinationals to stationary printing for small local businesses.

Heidelberg’s Australian operations are based in Melbourne’s Notting Hill near Scoresby. It also has an extensive branch office network across the world from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.