The Group performed as expected. The sales volume of Egg Packaging Europe was in line with expectations, but revenue remained affected by developments in exchange rates. Automation and efficiency improvement measures continued to have a positive impact on Hartmann's core business. Egg Packaging North America continued to grow, while Industrial Packaging and Hartmann Technology experienced setbacks. Profit for the period improved significantly.
Peter Arndrup Poulsen, CEO of Brødrene Hartmann A/S, comments on the Interim Report for H1 2009:
On the first half-year 2009
Hartmann's financial performance was in line with expectations. The sales volume of our core business, egg packaging in Europe, developed as expected, but revenue remained affected by developments in exchange rates. Our underlying operations improved significantly on the year-earlier period, which tells us that our initiatives to automate and improve production efficiency had the intended effect.
Hartmann's financial performance was in line with expectations. The sales volume of our core business, egg packaging in Europe, developed as expected, but revenue remained affected by developments in exchange rates. Our underlying operations improved significantly on the year-earlier period, which tells us that our initiatives to automate and improve production efficiency had the intended effect.
We are very pleased to see growth in all areas of our North American business, where the situation has truly turned around. In the first six months of 2009, revenue grew by 30%, and earnings increased by DKK 10 million on the year-earlier period.
As expected, Industrial Packaging reported a drop in the level of activity. Furthermore, Hartmann Technology, our entity engaging in the sale of machinery, came under pressure due to the financial crisis. As a result, many customers opted to defer orders for new machinery.
On full-year outlook
- Despite the effects of developments in exchange rates, we retain our full-year forecast of an EBIT-margin in the level of 5-6%.