Industry Komax in Dierikon LU with a slight profit in the first half-year
As announced, Komax in Dierikon LU suffered a slump in business in the first half of the year. The bottom line was still a slight profit. The manufacturer of wire processing machines for the automotive industry now intends to cut costs further.
13.08.2024, 10:36
SDA
The company announced on Tuesday that operating profit (EBIT) plummeted by almost 77 percent to CHF 10.4 million. The EBIT margin thus fell to 3.2 percent after 11.3 percent in the previous year. This was due to the sharp decline in volume business and restructuring costs, Komax wrote.
The bottom line was a net profit of CHF 2.5 million, compared with a profit of CHF 40.7 million in the prior-year period.
The company had recently published a profit warning. And as announced at the time, sales fell by 17.9 percent to 323.5 million francs. In the same period of the previous year, however, the acquisition of Schleuniger had resulted in a jump in sales.
The order backlog, which forms the basis for future business, also fell by 22.1 percent to 269.5 million Swiss francs. The industrial company from Central Switzerland has recently suffered from overcapacity in the automotive industry, particularly in Europe and Asia.
With these figures, Komax exceeded analysts' expectations in terms of EBIT and margin, but fell short in terms of net profit.
Outlook confirmed
According to the company, the focus is now on further cost reductions and structural optimizations. These should lead to savings of around CHF 20 million by the end of 2024.
This also includes streamlining locations. In Switzerland, the Group will focus on the two sites in Dierikon and Thun in future. The production sites in Rotkreuz and Cham will be relocated to the headquarters in Dierikon by the end of 2024 and 2025 respectively.
A slight improvement in the market situation is also expected in the second half of the year. Komax has therefore confirmed the forecast for the year as a whole that was communicated in June: the company anticipates a decline in sales of around 20 percent. In terms of operating profit (EBIT), strict cost discipline should result in a slightly positive figure, following EBIT of CHF 68 million in the previous year.
