The spread of Covid-19 had a significant impact on Bobst Group’s 2020 first half-year figures. The company recorded sales of CHF 523.8m for the first six months of 2020, compared to CHF 736.8m in the first half of 2019. The operating result (EBIT) decreased to CHF -25.1m compared to CHF 14.8m in 2019. The net result reached CHF 30.0m, down from CHF 7.4m in previous year. Order entries decreased by 21% and the order backlog is 10% lower than in previous year.
Despite the remaining uncertainties the Group expects an improvement of its results in the second half of the year 2020 but below the levels achieved in the second half of 2019.
Bobst’s new industry vision to shape the future of the packaging world was unveiled in June and the Group is adapting its organisation to implement it. The machine Business Units are being merged, and the Group Executive Committee has been reduced from five to four members.
During the first half of 2020, consolidated sales amounted to CHF 523.8m, representing a decrease of CHF 213.0m, or -28.9%, compared with the same period in 2019. Volume and price variances had a negative impact of CHF 199.2m, or -27.0%.
The exchange rates had an overall negative impact on sales of CHF 23.9m. The evolution due to the conversion of foreign currencies for consolidation accounts for CHF -21.4m, or -2.9%, and the transactional impact on sales volume from our Swiss operations accounts for CHF -2.5m, or -0.3%.
An improvement of CHF 10.1m, or +1.4%, came from a change in scope of consolidation due to the acquisitions of Yancheng Hongjing Machinery Technology Co., Ltd, Dongtai, China, completed 6 January 2020, and of CITO-SYSTEM GmbH, Schwaig, Germany, completed 8 April 2020.
| Sales by BU | 30 June 2020 | 30 June 2019 | Δ% |
|---|---|---|---|
| (In million CHF) | (In million CHF) | ||
| BU Sheet-fed | 245.7 | 377.5 | -34.9 |
| BU Web-fed | 49.7 | 115.6 | -57.0 |
| BU Services | 228.3 | 243.6 | -6.3 |
| Other | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Total | 523.8 | 736.8 | -28.9 |
