Agfa-Gevaert Publishes 2Q 2014 Results

Agfa-Gevaert announced its second quarter 2014 results.
 
The Agfa-Gevaert Group’s revenue declined by 11.1% to €651 million compared to the second quarter of 2013. On a currency comparable basis, the decline amounted to 8.3%. The weakness in most of the emerging markets and the unstable political situation in certain regions impacted the Group’s top line.
 
Agfa HealthCare’s Imaging IT Solutions division suffered from the uncertain investment climate in the US healthcare sector. The business group’s Direct Radiography business posted very strong sales growth. The hardcopy business and the Healthcare Information Solutions division also performed well.
 
“Our top line reflects the adverse currency effects and the continuously depressed economic conditions in certain parts of the world, including most emerging markets,” said Christian Reinaudo, president and CEO of the Agfa-Gevaert Group. “In these tough circumstances, we continued to progress on our main goals. Continuing to work towards our target of delivering a double digit recurring EBITDA percentage, we further improved the gross profit margin. Furthermore, efficiency programs, targeted actions to limit the restructuring costs and positive raw material effects allowed us to post a strong net profit. Cash flow generation also continued to be strong, leading to a further decrease in net financial debt. These elements will remain our main focus points in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, we will also focus on controlling the top line evolution.”
 
The Group made good progress in improving the gross profit margin to 31.8% of revenue, versus 28.8% in the second quarter of 2013 and 29.3% in the first quarter of 2014. The Group’s efficiency programs and positive raw material effects were the main drivers behind this evolution.
 
Agfa Graphics’ revenue decreased by 10.8% to €339 million. Excluding currency related effects, the decline amounted to 8.7%. The business group’s top line was impacted by the weakness in most of the emerging markets. In the prepress segment, the decline of the analog business continued, while the digital computer-to-plate (CtP) business continued to suffer from competitive pressure.
 
In spite of the weak investment climate, the inkjet segment booked a profitable volume increase, driven by the success of recently released wide-format printing solutions. Also in inkjet, the revenue contribution of inks for industrial applications is starting to grow, as they are being used by an increasing number of system integrators, OEM customers and other manufacturing specialists.
 
Agfa Graphics’ gross profit margin improved from 25.5% in the second quarter of 2013 to 29.5%.