Profit rise for Marel, Krones and GEA
Krones
For the six month period between January and June, Krones reported a rise in net income to €49.2m from €22.1m last year.
Sales revenue increased 16.8 per cent year-on-year from €1,076.2m to €1,257.5m.
The results were boosted by a high performance in Germany said the firm, where that country accounted for 12.8 per cent of consolidated revenue. Sales there picked up considerably over the first half of the year, jumping up 43 per cent, from €113.1m to €161.7m.
In Europe (excluding Germany) sales were up 10.4 per cent to €361.9m from €327.7m in 2010.
The firm said it was the first time it had posted a high sales growth in Eastern Europe since the financial and economic crisis.
Krones expects 2011 sales to grow by over 10 per cent from last year and exceed the previous record high of around €2.38bn from 2008. The company projected a new record high in order bookings.
GEA
For the German-based GEA, revenue rose by 26.6 per cent to €1,349m over the second half of 2010.
Operating profit was up by 47.6 per cent to €109m for the processing machinery giant.
The firm also raised its forecast for 2011 and is now expecting - including all acquisitions - an order intake of between €5.4 and €5.6bn and revenue of between €5.1 and 5.3bn.
“Our already existing five segments performed rather well in the first half of the year. This is due to both a positive market environment and our adjustment measures,” said Jürg Oleas, chairman of the Executive Board of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.
“The additional business generated by our new segment, GEA Convenience-Food Technologies, has also contributed to the growth in our operating profit since the second quarter.”
Marel
For Iceland-based Marel, revenues totalled €315.4m over the first six months of the year, an increase of 19 per cent compared to €264.9m in 2010.
Operating profit was €32.1m, up from €30.3m the year before, reported the machinery supplier.
The firm’s outlook for the rest of the year was positive. Theo Hoen, CEO said the firm saw good growth in countries like Ukraine, South Korea, Brazil and China, compensating for non-growth in the US.
“To stimulate future growth, we are investing in further geographical expansion, as well as increasing our manufacturing capacity. We are, for example, increasing the number of employees in manufacturing by approximately 300 worldwide during the course of the year.”
The CEO said the move was temporarily putting pressure on the groups’ margins. However, he said the EBIT margin for the first six months of the year was still within the firm’s target range of 10-12 per cent.
