PALFINGER Q1 2021: Positive Market Leads to Increased Revenue and Jump in Earnings

• EBIT margin 9.9 percent despite cyberattack
• Group revenue reaches EUR 405.9 million
• Aiming for record year in 2021

The economic recovery of the second half of 2020 continued during Q1 of 2021 with a very positive impact on the development of earnings and revenue of PALFINGER AG in the first quarter. Thanks to a good product mix, the EBIT margin was 9.9 percent, that is clearly above the previous year’s figure of 8 percent.

Extra Shifts Compensate for Production Downtime

“PALFINGER faced two-weeks of production downtime due to a cyberattack at the end of January, the consequences of which are being compensated for as quickly as possible. For this reason, extra shifts are being worked at our production sites,” explains PALFINGER CEO Andreas Klauser. “We reacted fast and efficiently to the cyberattack, successfully limited the damage and restarted production in the shortest time possible,” says Klauser.

Working at Full Capacity thanks to Strong Economic Cycle

The global economic recovery is reflected in PALFINGER’s good order intake and consequently full order books; therefore, all plants are working at full capacity. Economic growth of 8.4 percent is forecast for China, 6.4 percent for the USA and 4.4 percent for Europe. The upturn is being driven largely by the construction industry. The timber industry is developing positively too. However, the upturn is accompanied by rising raw material prices which results in higher costs along the supply chain. “We also have to keep in mind the risk of limited material availability,” says Klauser.

Key Financials

Revenue of PALFINGER AG amounted to EUR 405.9 million in Q1 of 2021 compared with EUR 393.2 million for the same period in the previous year. This represents an increase of EUR 12.7 million, or 3.2 percent.

EBITDA increased by 16.3 percent compared with Q1 of 2020, to EUR 58.5 million. The operating result (EBIT) increased from EUR 31.4 million in Q1 of 2020 to EUR 40.0 million in Q1 2021. The consolidated net result as at March 31, 2021 was EUR 24.5 million compared to EUR 15.5 million for the same period in the previous year.

Net debt was able to be reduced significantly to EUR 386 million, thanks in particular to optimized working capital management.

The equity ratio increased from 37.6 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year to 39.0 percent. The net debt to EBITDA ratio fell to 1.96 in Q1 of 2021 and was below the target of 2.0 for the first time since 2011.

Outlook

For the full fiscal year 2021 management is aiming for a record year with revenues in excess of EUR 1.75 billion and an EBIT of more than EUR 149 million.

However, despite full order books and the worldwide economic upswing, there are substantial risk factors such as supply chain limitations, higher raw material prices, production capacity bottlenecks and uncertainty concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

The online version of the results presentation for Q1/2020 is available here: https://www.palfinger.ag/en/news/presentations

Key Figures of the PALFINGER Group