Hermle received 5% more new orders in the first half of 2023
Group turnover increased by 26% to €m 126
Hermle Open House saw an increase in visitors
Gosheim, 11 May 2023 – Compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, the incoming orders at Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle AG rose throughout the Group by 5.2% to €m 144.2 (previous year: €m 137.1) in the first three months of 2023 despite high economic uncertainty. The company experienced continued strong demand for automation solutions featuring Hermle's own digitalisation components and profited from several large individual projects. The number of orders received from international customers increased by about 10.4% to €m 99.5 (previous year: €m 90.1). In Germany, where incoming orders decreased by 4.9% to €m 44.7 (previous year: €m 47), the expected downturn in the economy became tangible.
The orders on hand of the southern German machine tool and automation specialist also continued to grow: On 31 March 2023, Hermle’s Group-wide orders totalled €m 186.5 – 28.3% more than on the same date in the previous year (31 March 2022: €m 145.4) and 11% more than at the end of 2022 (31 December 2022: €m 168.0).
Hermle increased its Group turnover by 26.1% to €m 125.7 in the first quarter of 2023 (previous year: €m 99.7). Domestic sales increased by 10.7% to €m 47.7 (previous year: €m 43.1) and international sales by 37.8% to €m 78 (previous year: €m 56.6). After easing of both supply chain pressure and logistic constraints, Hermle was able to utilise its capacities extremely well in the first quarter. The result, which was heavily impacted in the previous year through the termination of business activities in Russia due to the war in Ukraine, exhibited a disproportionate increase to turnover. This further underpinned the already extremely solid financial and asset position with an equity ratio of over 70% at the end of March 2023.
The Hermle team also grew during the reporting period: As of 31 March 2023, Hermle employed 1,415 people throughout the Group, compared to 1,383 at the end of 2022 and 1,334 on the same date in the previous year. The workforce grew primarily in the automation-related sectors of production and design/development as well as in foreign sales and service.
As part of the continuous expansion of foreign activities, a new Hermle subsidiary was founded in France in March 2023. It is based in the Paris area and will commence operations in the coming months.
Further, the company plans to expand capacities at its two manufacturing locations in Gosheim and Zimmern ob Rottweil. To achieve this goal, an investment programme totalling over €m 60 is planned in the next few years. During the reporting period, the acquisition of additional land at the Zimmern ob Rottweil site was signed and sealed, thereby ensuring the construction of a new production facility for large parts, the expansion of the existing mineral casting production facility and the generation of supplementary storage capacity can begin as planned.
Irrespective of the current economic downturn, which continued in April as expected, Hermle continues to envisage a high demand for machine tools and automation solutions in the medium term, not least due to the growing shortage of skilled workers. This was also confirmed at the Hermle Open House in April 2023, when the company welcomed around 2,500 guests from 1,100 companies and over 30 countries, significantly more visitors than in the previous year. For four whole days, interested parties were provided with a comprehensive showcase of Hermle machining centres, automation, digitalisation and Industry 4.0 solutions and with the chance to discover the company's range of services, generative manufacturing options and user training.
Press contact: Redaktionsbüro tik GmbH, Gabriele Rechinger,
T 0911 988 170 72, E-Mail: info@tik-online.de
Image material: Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle AG, Udo Hipp,
T 07426 95 6238, E-Mail: udo.hipp@hermle.de
