Interroll significantly increases sales in a difficult market environment

Interroll significantly increased sales to CHF 310.9 million (+14.3% year on year, +18.5% in local currency). Order intake fell significantly to CHF 304.4 million      (-27.8% year on year, -24.8% in local currency) due to the absence of major projects, but Interroll still has an exceptionally high order backlog from the previous year.

Sales growth in all product groups

In the first half of 2022, sales developed positively in all product groups.

At CHF 70.9 million, sales in the Rollers product group were up +11.1% on the previous year’s figure of CHF 63.9 million. Following strong growth in the same period of the previous year, incoming orders of CHF 60.7 million showed a decline of -23.9% (previous year: CHF 79.7 million).

Sales of the Drives product group amounted to CHF 110.2 million in the first half of 2022, up +18.3% year-on-year (CHF 93.2 million). Order intake decreased by -11.8% to CHF 105.5 million compared to CHF 119.6 million in the same period of the previous year.

The Conveyors & Sorters product group generated sales of CHF 96.8 million in the first half of 2022, 9.9% higher than in the same period of the previous year (CHF 88.1 million). Due to the absence of major projects compared to the same period of the previous year, order intake decreased by -40.7% to CHF 110.5 million (same period of the previous year: CHF 186.6 million).

In the year under review, Interroll generated sales of CHF 32.9 million in the Pallet Handling product group, up 22.4% on the same period of the previous year (CHF 26.9 million). Order intake fell by -22.4% to CHF 27.7 million (previous year: CHF 35.7 million).

Heterogeneous development in the regions

Net sales in the Europe, Middle East, Africa region (EMEA) amounted to CHF 182.1 million, up by 12.3% compared to the previous year (CHF 162.2 million). Order intake decreased by -16.7% compared to the prior year (CHF 220.8 million) to CHF 183.9 million.

With a 58% share of Interroll’s total sales, EMEA remains the most economically significant region within the Group. The demands placed on suppliers in internal logistics are high. In addition to close customer relationships, industry knowledge and technical solution expertise, they require innovative responses to increasing complexity and new market trends. The new plant in Mosbach, Germany, provides further capacity for future growth in the EMEA region.

Sales in the Americas region amounted to CHF 101.6 million, 36.4% higher than in the previous year (CHF 74.5 million). After record growth in order intake in the previous year, the region recorded a significantly lower order intake of CHF 89.0 million (previous year: CHF 151.3 million), down -41.2%. The receipt of major projects in the e-commerce sector was lower in the reporting period compared to the previous year, which had a negative impact on the Conveyors & Sorters product group in particular. The majority of the sales growth was attributable to the United States market which, however, also recorded a sharp decline in order intake.

Interroll’s sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell by -23.0% to CHF 27.2 million (previous year: CHF 35.3 million). Order intake declined significantly by -36.6% to CHF 31.2 million (previous year: CHF 49.1 million).

As in previous years, China was the most important market for Interroll in the region; however lockdowns related to COVID-19 caused problems in the supply chains and, accordingly, demand was lower. Following strong growth in the same period of the previous year, Australia, Japan and Korea declined significantly, mainly due to a lack of projects.

The region increasingly benefits from the globalization of the Interroll Group and the expansion and modernization of Interroll’s own production facilities. In 2019, a new and larger plant in Thailand commenced operations. The plant in Shenzhen, China, moved to a new, more modern location at the beginning of 2021 and in the third quarter of 2022, the new plant in Suzhou, China, will be fully operational, further increasing Interroll’s production capacities for the Asia-Pacific region.

Net profit at previous year’s level

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was lower at CHF 52.4 million (previous year: CHF 56.3 million). The EBITDA margin decreased to 16.9% (previous year: 20.7%). The EBITDA margin is slightly above the level before the COVID-19 crisis in mid-2019. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached CHF 40.8 million (-9.2% below prior year with CHF 45.0 million).

Net profit was almost maintained at CHF 33.1 million (previous year: CHF 33.4 million). The net profit margin reached 10.6% (previous year: 12.2%). Gross investments amounted to CHF 12.4 million (previous year: CHF 32.0 million). Free cash flow amounted to CHF -7.2 million (previous year: CHF -5.0 million) due to the ongoing problems in the supply chains and related inventory issues.

Innovation

With the new Light Conveyor Platform (LCP), Interroll has expanded its offering with a platform-based material-flow solution that significantly increases the productivity of manufacturing processes in particular. With the market launch of new platform technologies that meet high hygienic requirements in May 2022, Interroll is expanding its existing range of conveyor solutions for the food industry. Based on the advantages offered by Interroll’s globally successful technology platforms, the new Modular Hygienic Platform (MHP) will now also provide flexibly applicable modular solutions based on the principles of hygienic product design. This makes it possible to significantly improve food safety and shelf life while at the same time optimizing energy and operational efficiency.

Long-term trends intact

With a good start to the financial year 2022, Interroll had initially assumed a further recovery trend in the markets following the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly improved availability of materials. In the second quarter of 2022, however, the situation in the supply chains deteriorated again, partly in connection with the strict COVID-19 lockdowns in China. Interroll continues to counter this with an experienced task force. In this context and with the war in Ukraine, Interroll also noted significantly more project postponements by customers and end users in the second quarter of 2022. This is due to their impacted supply chains, postponements in installation, or short-term adjustments in investment activities. It should be emphasized that with a very high order backlog, project cancellations for Interroll have so far occurred to a very limited extent.

"Due to a time horizon that is difficult to assess with regard to a normalization of the situation, Interroll is currently refraining from providing an outlook for the 2022 financial year," said Ingo Steinkrüger, CEO of the global Interroll Group. "However, in the medium term, the company sees all fundamental trends for global demand for material-handling solutions as remaining intact. In particular, a growing labor shortage as well as sharply rising logistics costs are likely to drive more demand for automation solutions. With its leading technology platforms and capacities, Interroll is excellently positioned for future growth."

Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the first half of 2022 (in CHF million)