technotrans starts 2021 with revenue and earnings growth

technotrans group on its increasing turnover and profitability

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technotrans group
technotrans group with a positive start to the 2021 financial year

Global technology and service group technotrans SE has made a positive start to the 2021 financial year despite the continuing challenges posed by the Corona pandemic. In the first three months, a consolidated turnover of € 52.8 million was achieved by the technotrans group. With an increase of 1.3 % compared to the same period of the previous year, this even exceeded the pre-Corona level. 

Consolidated EBIT increased substantially by 63.2 % and reached € 2.9 million (previous year € 1.8 million). As a result, the EBIT margin of the group improved significantly from 3.4% to 5.4%. Therefore, the Board of Management confirms its forecast for the 2021 financial year of consolidated revenue of € 195 to 205 million with an EBIT margin between 4.5 and 5.5 %.

technotrans group found solutions for pandemic-related challenges

Michael Finger, CEO of technotrans SE.
Michael Finger, CEO of technotrans SE.

“With flexibility and innovation, technotrans has found the right answers to the ongoing pandemic-related challenges. We are delighted with the business performance in the first quarter under the given general conditions. The structural measures already introduced last year and the strategic realignment ‘Future Ready 2025’ are affecting. We are right on schedule,” says Michael Finger, Spokesman of the Board of Management of technotrans SE.

Revenue of € 16.8 million was achieved with customers in the printing industry, being 13.1% below the previous year. The pandemic-related investment restraint continued and could not be compensated by the moderately increasing service business. In total, the print segment’s share of group revenue fell by 5.3 percentage points to 31.7%.

Outlook

Based on the raised forecasts of leading institutions such as the IMF and VDMA, as well as the positive business performance in the first quarter, the Board of Management also expects an increasing recovery in the further course of the financial year and hopes for a sustained trend reversal in the relevant markets. This assessment assumes that no new setbacks will occur in the pandemic response.

The structural measures already implemented in the previous year showed first successes in the reporting period, both on the revenue and profitability side. In addition, all other steps initiated based on the “Future Ready 2025” strategy for the 2021 financial year, such as the merger of individual group companies, are on schedule.  

The Board of Management confirms its forecast of achieving consolidated revenue of between € 195 million and € 205 million in the 2021 financial year with an EBIT margin of between 4.5 and 5.5 %. The forecast is subject to the proviso that the relevant markets continue to recover in the year and that no additional burdens result from the Corona pandemic. Furthermore, the Board of Management confirms the medium-term goals of achieving revenue in a range of € 265 to 285 million in the financial year 2025 with an EBIT margin between 9.0 and 12.0 % to be achieved. Acquisitions are not included in these forecasts.

“Following the positive start to the year for the technotrans group, we are optimistic and confident about the rest of the year. We will continue to drive forward the ‘Future Ready 2025’ strategy consistently,” says Michael Finger.

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.

– Naresh Khanna

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