Textile orders rise slightly at Oerlikon in Q1

Order intake in Asia grew 25 %. Order intake in Europe was stable compared to the previous year. Orders from North America were down about 25 %. In terms of sales, Europe posted the strongest regional growth across the Group with an increase of 15 % in the first quarter, primarily driven by the Textile manmade fibers business, which more than doubled due to strong sales in Turkey.

Asia also contributed with 3 % growth; sales in China grew by 9 %. Sales in North America declined by 22 %, and sales in other regions showed softness. Asia now accounts for 44 % of Group sales (Q1 2012: 42 %), Europe for 36 % (Q1 2012: 31 %), North America for 15 % (Q1 2012: 19 %) and Other Regions for 5 % (Q1 2012: 8 %).

Sustained profitability

First quarter EBIT was CHF 85 million reflecting a margin of 11.8 % (Q1 2012: CHF 136 million, including the sale of the Arbon property; on a like-for-like basis Q1 2012 EBIT was CHF 97 million with a margin of 13.1 %). The strongest contribution in Q1 2013 came from the Textile Segment, which reported an EBIT increase of nearly 50 % on a like-for-like basis, with an EBIT margin of 15.8 % (Q1 2012: 12.2 %).

Also Coating continued to be highly profitable with a margin of 20.0 % (Q1 2012: 21.3 %). These results allowed the Group to offset weak performance in the Drive Systems Segment, with a margin of 1.8 % (Q1 2012: 8.5 %). The Vacuum Segment showed a margin of 11.3 %, lower than in Q1 2012 (14.1 %), but substantially higher than in the second half of 2012 as performance improves.

The solid Q1 2013 performance resulted in a ROCE of 17.0 % (Q1 2012: 17.6 %) for the Oerlikon Group compared to a FY 2012 ROCE of 19.7 %. The slight decline was predominantly attributable to the one-time effect from the Arbon property sale in the first quarter 2012. Textile and Coating continue to operate at Best-in-Class levels.

“With the continued execution of our unchanged strategy focusing on underlying operational performance, the Oerlikon team maintained sustainable value creation and further invested in R&D, product development and regional expansion”, CEO/CFO Jürg Fedier said.

Outlook 2013

Based on the first quarter results Oerlikon confirms its outlook for 2013. Assuming successful closure of the divestment of the Natural Fibers and Textile Components Business Units, expected in Q2 2013, and stable exchange rates, the Group forecasts

- Order intake and sales around the previous year’s level

- Underlying operational profitability to be around the previous year’s level, temporarily impacted by the divestments in the Textile Segment.

Oerlikon