Orell Füssli AG Half-Year 2022: Positive business development in the 1st half-year
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
Zurich, 5 August 2022 - Orell Füssli generated revenue of CHF 97.6 million in the first half of 2022 (previous year CHF 97.3 million), slightly above the previous year and in line with expectations. This was achieved in a tense market environment characterised by rising raw material prices, shortages of key products and fears of recession. The operating result (EBIT) increased by 16% to CHF 7.4 million in the first six months of 2022 (previous year CHF 6.4 million). The implementation of the strategy, which addresses important development trends in the growth markets of security and education, was further advanced in the first half of the year through the implementation of various measures.
Security Printing
In the first half of 2022, the Security Printing Division was able to acquire various new customer projects in both the banknote printing and ID business, and is reporting a high order backlog and good capacity utilisation for the current year. Revenue in the reporting period amounted to CHF 38.0 million (previous year: CHF 39.2 million). Thanks to an attractive product mix, the operating result (EBIT) rose above average to CHF 7.8 million in the first half of the year (previous year: CHF 4.2 million). Orell Füssli received an award for its innovative "Utopian Dual®" banknote at the Banknote & Currency Conference in Washington DC/USA in February 2022. It combines classical security elements with barcodes, enabling the banknote value to be transferred to a digital wallet. The development of the "Utopian Dual ®" represents an important step in development of capabilities to offer hybrid banknotes in the future.
Industrial Systems
In the first six months of 2022, the Zeiser Division acquired various new orders in the face of good market demand. In particular, multi-year service contracts were concluded for Inspectron's Track & Trace technology, which can be used in the area of traceability of security documents. Zeiser has a good order backlog for 2022. However, Corona-related staff shortages and the move to the new facility led to delays in the processing of customer projects. As a result, revenues in the reporting period fell to CHF 11.0 million (previous year CHF 13.2 million). The shortfall should be largely made up in the second half of the year. The operating result (EBIT) fell accordingly to CHF 1.9 million (previous year CHF 3.3 million). The sale of the former production building in Emmingen, Baden-Württemberg, led to a book profit of CHF 1.0 million.
Book Retailing
Orell Füssli Thalia AG reported a good first half of 2022 and increased the proportionately consolidated revenue to CHF 45.0 million (CHF 41.4 million in the previous year), an increase of 8.7% compared with the same period of last year. Both the retail trade and the business customer segment, which serves schools, companies, public authorities and libraries with specialist literature, grew in the reporting period. The proportionately consolidated operating result (EBIT) improved to CHF 0.9 million (previous year CHF 0.6 million). The first half of the year was dominated by the opening of new shops in highly frequented locations. New shops were opened in Lucerne and Wil, with the acquisition of the Barth bookstore, a new location was opened in ShopVille-Zurich Central Station. Orell Füssli Thalia also launched Skoobe, a new online streaming service for books, which offers access to an online library with over 400,000 books and several 10,000 audio books.
Other business areas
Orell Füssli Publishers generated revenue in line with expectations in the first half of 2022. Concentration on learning and educational media and the well-known Globi and Carigiet children's book brands continued. With the acquisition of hep Verlag on 1 July 2022, a major provider of Swiss learning media, the division doubled its sales and positioned itself as the leading publisher in the Swiss educational market of learning content. In addition, the legal media section was strengthened through a partnership with the legal research portal justement.ch.
Orell Füssli's subsidiary Procivis, a software company with key technologies for digital identity and certi-ficate solutions, is working on various pilot projects as part of the cooperation with Swisscom, the aim of which is the practical application of digital certificates.
Outlook for 2022
On the basis of the information available and in particular as a result of the consolidation of hep Verlag, Orell Füssli expects revenues to increase slightly and the EBIT margin to remain at the previous year's level in 2022.
Key figures Orell Füssli group in CHF million
In CHF million | Jan-Jun 22 | Jan-Jun 21 |
Revenue from sales to customers | 97.6 | 97.3 |
Operating performance (EBITDA) | 12.6 | 11.1 |
Operating result (EBIT) | 7.4 | 6.4 |
in % revenue (rounded) | 7.6% | 6.6% |
Half-year result | 6.7 | 5.7 |
Equity | 134.5 | 138.8 |
Number of employees (FTE) as of 30.6. | 603 | 569 |
Half-Year Report 2022
The Half-Year Report 2022 is available on the Internet:
https://www.orellfuessli.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Halbjahresbericht_EN_2022.pdf or can be requested in printed form via e-mail investorsorellfuessli.com.
Agenda
Investor Day - 24 November 2022
Publication Annual Report 2022 - 10 March 2023
Annual General Meeting 2022 - 10 May 2023
Contact
Orell Füssli AG
Tel. +41 44 466 72 73
mediaorellfuessli.com
Orell Füssli is a pioneer in the field of security and education. As an expert in security solutions for the state and citizens alike and a leading Swiss player in the book retailing sector, Orell Füssli supports its clients with a unique and customer-specific offering. As a leading system provider of security technology and identification systems and a long-standing partner to governments, Orell Füssli is a technological standard-setter. In the areas of security printing and serialisation, Orell Füssli offers innovative printing processes and services for the production and successful protection of banknotes, value documents and identity documents. With its attractive large-format and specialist bookstores, Orell Füssli offers a true book shopping experience. In the Book Retailing segment, Orell Füssli holds a 50% stake in Orell Füssli Thalia AG, which offers a comprehensive range of products and services via 45 branches located in German-speaking Switzerland and various e-commerce services. Orell Füssli provides logistics and other services for libraries and the corporate sector. Orell Füssli’s publishing houses focus on learning and educational media, and children’s books that impart knowledge. Orell Füssli was established more than 500 years ago and generates revenue of some CHF 210 million with about 600 employees in five countries. Orell Füssli is listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. |