HEIDELBERG (dpa-AFX) - In the past quarter, machine manufacturer Heidelberger Druck benefited from strong demand from North America and Europe. While sales also increased thanks to price increases, operating profit, on the other hand, declined due to the payment of an inflation compensation bonus to the workforce. In addition, the company had benefited in the prior-year period from the sale of a property in the United Kingdom. Adjusted for these effects, earnings increased year-on-year.

The shares fell by 7.45 percent to 1.80 euros in the morning. They thus fell further back from their recent interim high of just over 2 euros. For the still young stock market year, however, the gains still add up to more than a fifth.

"We had a positive third quarter and were able to further increase our sales and operating profit," company CEO Ludwin Monz said Wednesday, according to a statement. Looking ahead, the next few months would continue to be dominated by expected cost increases for materials, energy and personnel. The company will continue to counter this with price increases and maintain its cost discipline, he said. He said he was confident that the Group would achieve its targets for the year.

Accordingly, sales are expected to continue to grow from 2.18 billion euros in the previous year to around 2.3 billion euros. The operating margin (Ebitda margin) is expected to be at least 8 percent of sales, up on the previous year's figure of 7.3 percent. After taxes, Heidelberg is aiming for at least a slight increase on the previous year's 33 million Euro profit.

In the third financial quarter to the end of December, sales climbed by around five percent year-on-year to 609 million Euro, according to the Heidelberg company. While business with printing presses for the packaging industry developed significantly better and revenue in the Print Solutions division also rose, revenue in the third Technology Solutions division was well below the previous year's figure. Among other things, the reluctance to buy wallboxes due to the long delivery times for electric vehicles and the expiry of subsidy programs in Germany had an impact here.

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) fell by 28 percent to 41 million euros. Adjusted for special items, operating profit would have risen from 31 million to 49 million euros. After taxes, profit in the third fiscal quarter fell from 27 to 10 million euros. The order backlog at the end of the quarter was almost one billion euros.

The figures for the third quarter slightly exceeded expectations, wrote Peter Rothenaicher of Baader Bank. They were characterized

by continued solid order intake, rising sales and a positive operating result. The company was able to pass on drastic cost increases for materials, components, energy and logistics to customers in part through higher prices, he said. He described the confirmed annual targets as conservative, as the fourth quarter is typically the strongest in terms of sales and margins for the year as a whole and the one-off personnel cost effect will no longer occur./mne/mis/tih