International technology group Andritz reported sales of €1,489.2 million in Q1 2019, up by 15.4 per cent from €1,291 million reported in Q1 2018. Order intake amounted to just under €1.7 billion and was approximately 8 per cent higher than previous year’s reference period. With the  exception of hydro, all business areas were able to achieve an increase in sales.

The pulp and paper business area was mainly responsible for the increase in order intake and succeeded in enhancing the order intake by over 75 per cent compared to the previous year’s reference figure. A decline was noted in the order intake by the hydro and metals business areas, which were both confronted with a continuing difficult market environment, said Andritz in a media statement.

The Andritz group continues to expect a significant increase in sales for the 2019 business year compared to the previous year. The main reasons for this are the continuing positive trend in orders and the resulting high order backlog as of the end of March 2019 as well as the sales contributions made by the companies acquired in 2018.

“Business development in the first quarter was satisfactory and in line, by and large, with our expectations. As we expect the global automotive market to remain weak in the medium term, in the next few weeks we will extensively evaluate the need to implement possible restructuring measures in the metals forming sector,” said Wolfgang Leitner, president & CEO of Andritz AG. “The goal is the sustained adjustment of capacities and cost structures to the difficult market conditions and thus to ensure the competitiveness of our products on the market.” (PC)