The manufacturer has held official celebrations to mark its 175th anniversary this week.
CEO Jürgen Otto said the business had held its own in a difficult market in financial year 2024/25, with its preliminary results released in May confirmed.
Regarding the outlook for financial year 2025/26, Heidelberg expects to post a slight increase in sales to around €2.35bn (£1.98bn), while EBITDA margin is slated to improve to “as much as around 8%”, from 7.1%.
Otto said that the significant strategic and operational improvements made by the group had paved the way for further profitable growth.
“Our measures will make a substantial contribution to the expected increase in sales,” he noted.
“Enhanced efficiency and performance will further boost our profitability. Encouragingly, the capital market is also increasingly acknowledging our focus on economic efficiency and liquidity.”
Heidelberg also announced its new partnership with Manroland Sheetfed for VLF presses this week.
From the beginning of its new financial year on 1 April Heidelberg has changed its segment reporting structure, and from now on will report under three segments: Print & Packaging Equipment, Digital Solutions & Lifecycle, and Heidelberg Technology.
Dr David Schmedding, chief technology and sales officer, stated: “Thanks to the improving order situation and the positive momentum from the China Print trade show, we are expecting a better start to the new financial year than we had the previous year.”
At the anniversary event Otto also said that there would be more news in the near future on Heidelberg’s plans to leverage its technical and manufacturing know-how for customers in other industries, with military applications flagged as one possibility.
Heidelberg’s share price has risen by just under 50% since the start of the year, and reached a 52-week high of €1.54 in May (low: €0.85).
