KAP AG CONFIRMS FULL-YEAR ADJUSTED GUIDANCE DESPITE CHALLENGING MARKET CONDITIONS
Fulda, November 23, 2023 – KAP AG (“KAP”), an indexed medium-sized commercial holding company (German identity number: WKN 620840; ISIN DE0006208408), released its monetary figures for the first nine months of the monetary year. At the same time, it showed its full-year forecast, which had been adjusted in August.
Marten Julius, spokesperson for the control of KAP AG: “As with other production companies, we see that lately a large number of consumers in our segments are postponing their orders due to the economic situation, so our business will continue to be complicated in the coming years. also in the coming months. However, conversations with current and potential consumers have shown that our products are still the most requested and that we can expect an improvement in new orders in the medium term. Until then, we’ll be ready accordingly. We will continue to work intensively on more effective structures and aim to achieve successful growth. “
Excluding contributions from divested companies, the flexible films segment generated a profit of €65. 6 million during the period under review, down 20. 8% from last year’s strong era (last year: €82. 8 million). In addition to higher interest rates, which sometimes weigh on the structural sector, the end of COVID-19-related economic dynamism has had a notable effect here: the “cocoon” phase during the pandemic has driven new demands from the end. customers, which has since increased. However, he was satisfied. In addition, to meet major demands, many stores had built up particularly high inventories last year, which they are now trimming to general pre-pandemic levels. Normalised EBITDA, excluding contributions to the effects of companies sold, decreased by 10. 9% to €9. 1 million (last year: €10. 3 million). The overall EBITDA margin, excluding the contribution of the segment’s sold subsection, advanced through 1. 5 percentage issues to 13. 9% (last year: 12. 4%), reflecting the successful progression of the rest of the segment section.
In the Engineered Products segment, sales decreased by €113. 6 million year-on-year to €92. 5 million; Normalized EBITDA decreased from €7. 5 million to €3. 0 million. This progression was influenced by the expiry of two important visitor orders in the Czech Republic and the United States. For this reason, and in reaction to the weakness of the market caused by the economic situation, KAP has already taken steps to adjust capacity and increase power in this segment. In the coming quarters, this will lead to significant load savings and increased use of synergies through more efficient structures.
The new plant in Jasper, USA, had a significant impact on revenues in the surface technologies segment, which grew by 7. 2% from €49. 9 million to €53,000. €5 million during the first nine months of 2023. In addition, the tenders are generating profits from major automakers. On the other hand, normalised EBITDA decreased from €6. 4 million to €5. 3 million due to structural adjustment measures taken in certain factories. The costs resulting from the optimization of the production process at Jasper influenced the segment’s result, as did the higher prices, which have not yet been fully passed on to customers. Thanks to the flexibility of the organization and the wonderful commitment of our employees in the segment, the impact of the fire on the Polish plant was very limited. The planned reconstruction in Poland and the continued commissioning of the new factory in the United States will contribute to a significant increase in sales volume.
[1] Last year, following the sale of companies in the flexible films segment, the Group generated a profit of €360. 1 million and a normalised EBITDA of €23. 5 million.