Austrian company Andritz's revenue drops 2.2% in Q2FY24

Compared to the previous year’s reference period, revenue decreased slightly, while profitability (EBITA margin) showed a slight increase, and net income remained stable. Order intake dropped considerably from the high level of the first half of 2023 due to the continued absence of major capital investments by customers in the pulp & paper and metals industries. Order intake for services and green products continued to grow.

Order intake in the second quarter of 2024 decreased to €1,895.1 million (~$2043.86 million), and in the first half of 2024 to €3,845.4 million (~$4147.26 million). This decrease is mainly due to the absence of large capital orders in Pulp & Paper and Metals. Pulp & Paper achieved a slight increase in order intake in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023. Environment & Energy was able to increase its order intake significantly (+38 per cent vs. H1 2023). In the Hydropower business area, the previous year’s reference period was marked by the booking of a major order for a hydropower plant in Laos.

The Environment & Energy business area showed significant growth in both revenue and order intake compared to the reference period of last year, the company said in a press release.

In the Pulp & Paper business area, Andritz received a large order for lignin recovery at a pulp mill of the Swedish Södra Group. Lignin will be used as a renewable resource to replace fossil-based materials in the chemical industry and serve as a basis for new biofuels. Lignin recovery plants are part of Andritz’s CircleToZero solutions for the utilisation of production side streams, supporting the circular economy and creating new business opportunities for customers.

Innovative order highlights in the second quarter have again been awarded by Finnish Metsa Group. They included a process study for the integration of carbon capture into a bioproduct mill and a pre-study for the first commercial mill to produce a new type of man-made cellulosic fibre.

In June 2024, Andritz acquired Procemex, a leading global supplier of web monitoring and web inspection solutions for the pulp and paper industry. The integration of Procemex strengthens Andritz’s digitalisation portfolio and its ability to help pulp and paper mills further automate their operations and increase efficiency.

“In view of the challenging economic environment, we are satisfied with our business development in the first half of the year. Thanks to the growth in service business and green products, combined with solid order execution, we were able to maintain our net income at last year’s level and slightly increased our profitability,” Andritz CEO Joachim Schönbeck said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)