Heidelberg demonstrates commercial and package printing at the Print Media Center in Wiesloch Photo Heidelberg
Heidelberg is setting the next milestone in its ongoing financial stabilization and transformation process. The company announced on 7 August 2020 that it will pay back the remaining amount of € 150 million on the existing high-yield bond (HYB), which has a term to maturity until 2022 and a coupon of 8% per annum plus accrued interest before maturity, i.e., on 9 September 2020. The payback will be funded from cash reserves and will unburden the financial result by approximately € 12 million per year.
After the transfer of € 380 million in funds to the company from Heidelberg Pension-Trust e.V. in March this year for refinancing and transformation, and the sale of the Gallus Group at the end of July 2020, Heidelberg will make the announced early repayment of the high-yield bond without delay.
“We are keeping our word and are working full speed ahead to consistently implement the measures announced in the program we presented in March to increase profitability, competitiveness and to secure our future. The early repayment of the high-yield bond is a further milestone in improving our financing structure. We are permanently freeing ourselves from high-interest payments and are becoming more financially independent and flexible,” says Marcus A. Wassenberg, CFO of Heidelberg. Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg, explains: “And this gives us leeway for future investments and to shape the future of our company.”
After the envisaged buyback of the high-yield bond, Heidelberg continues to have a stable financial framework, among other things, due to a syndicated credit line, which is agreed until 2023.
Under the bond conditions, the repayment on 9 September 2020 will take place by means of a publicly announced optional early redemption with a redemption value of 100 % plus accrued interest. The announcement of the buyback can also be viewed directly on the website of the Luxembourg stock exchange.
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
