Semperit restructuring delivers increased profitability

Vienna – The Semperit Group has recorded a significant year-on-year improvement in earnings (EBITDA) for the year 2019, due in large part to a recently concluded two-year restructuring programme.

Earnings rose 46% to €67.8 million for the full year on 4.3% lower sales of €840.6 million, the Austrian group said 20 March.

Overall, the industrial sector – which includes segments such as industrial hoses, seals, rubber sheeting, profiles and conveyor belts – recorded a 22.6% improvement in earnings to €87.5 million, on 3.5% lower sales of €547.2 million.

The company linked the increase to "the initiatives from the restructuring and transformation programme."

The group’s troubled medical sector Sempermed returned to profitability, posting €5.5 million in earnings, compared to a loss of €3.9 million registered the year before.

Here, Semperit said the ongoing operational restructuring measures increased productivity significantly at the unit. 

The company improved EBITDA and operational EBIT levels throughout 2018 and 2019 “despite a noticeable drop in sales due to the economic situation,” said Dr Martin Füllenbach, CEO of Semperit AG Holding 20 March.

The profitability, Semperit said, was achieved "in an environment of increasingly subdued economic developments worldwide and global political conflicts." 

This, the group said, led to uncertainty with regard to future investment decisions and to fears of recession.