Neways with 3% turnover decline

Eric Stodel, CEO: “In the first half of 2021, we saw continued recovery of our operating result, due to the effect of the measures taken. We are on track with the transformation of our company to OneNeways. Turnover was lower than last year, partly due to disruptions in our international supply chain and our deliberate divestment of less profitable turnover. Our order intake and order book increased strongly and we decided to tap the flexibility of certain parts of the organisation to quickly scale up to meet rising demand. In the second half of 2021, we expect the materials shortages at suppliers, in particular suppliers of semiconductor components, combined with the uncertainties related to the COVID-19 Delta variant, to continue to put pressure on turnover. Nevertheless, in the coming months we expect to be able to deliver more products and innovative systems, which will help us record higher turnover than in the first half of the year. On top of this, we will also see the structural cost savings from the now completed reorganisations in Germany and the Netherlands reflected more clearly in our results.” Highlights

• Net turnover declines 3.8% to EUR 233.8 million, due in part to the downscaling of less profitable turnover and disruptions in the supply chain;
• Order book increases to EUR 334.4 million, up 32.6% compared with end-June 2020 and up 48.6% compared with year-end 2020, driven by a recovery in demand in the Automotive sector and continued strong demand in other market sectors;
• Order intake up by 69.0%; on top of regular growth with existing clients, Neways won multi-year orders from 13 new clients across all strategic market sectors with a total turnover value of more than EUR 50 million which will materialise in the coming years;
• Gross margin increases by 3.0% to EUR 91.7 million; rises to 39.2% from 36.6% as a percentage of turnover, due to positive mix effects;
• Normalised operating result increases to EUR 6.8 million from EUR 2.2 million, driven by improvement of the gross margin and continued cost controls;
• Net cash flow comes in at EUR - 6.3 million, due to higher working capital requirements and extra cash out in connection with the previously announced reorganisations and the settlement of COVID-19-related government support;
• Neways’ order book is well filled and when compared with 2021 profitability is recovering in line with expectations. Regular order book growth is partly driven by market uncertainty regarding the availability of products; this has a dampening effect on recovery.