If you look at the past financial years of the BAUER Group, the figures that the company published at the end of July are almost like a liberation: With the end of 2023, Bauer can look back on an eventful but ultimately successful year. Despite the numerous changes and challenges both in the company and in global politics and the economy, the company managed to increase total group performance to EUR 1,831.1 million and achieve an EBIT of EUR 95.2 million. The syndicated loan could also be extended early.
- Total group performance increases significantly compared to the previous year from EUR 1,748.1 million to EUR 1,831.1 million (+4.7%)
- EBIT of EUR 95.2 million is already at a good level after a negative previous year of EUR -68.0 million
- Earnings after taxes were positive at EUR 7.5 million (previous year: EUR -94.0 million)
- Order backlog increases again to EUR 1,553.6 million (+7.5%)
- Syndicated loan agreement extended early
The global environment was characterized by various influencing factors, including Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, a continued weak construction sector in China and other Asian countries that have not yet recovered from the effects of the corona pandemic .
“Our annual results are particularly remarkable given the cyber attack on our IT infrastructure at the end of October 2023,” emphasizes Peter Hingott, CEO of BAUER AG. “Although this incident led to a loss of sales in the last two months of the year, the figures achieved show how good our operational development has actually been.”
The comprehensive capital increase in 2023, which led to a change in the ownership structure, significantly improved the BAUER Group’s balance sheet structure. Net debt fell significantly and the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 1.96. “This is an almost historically low value and shows that our balance sheet is very healthy again,” said Peter Hingott. On this basis, significant investments in the modernization and expansion of machine production at the Schrobenhausen site are also planned.
Development of the segments
Im Segment Special civil engineering Bauer has achieved a comprehensive turnaround. The optimization of the international positioning as well as very successful projects all over the world contributed to this. The segment was therefore able to achieve a significant increase in performance and a positive result after taxes.
The segment machinery had a stable financial year from an operational perspective, especially in the Americas and Europe regions. China, on the other hand, was once again an unpleasant market and produced negative results. The cyber attack at the end of October 2023 had the greatest impact on this segment. This means that almost two months of sales and the associated earnings contribution were missing, which is why the expectations at the end of the year could not be achieved and both performance and earnings after taxes fell slightly compared to the previous year.
The segment Resources recorded an overall positive development in the past financial year and was able to achieve a clearly positive result after taxes despite the planned slight decline in performance. Here too, the restructuring measures undertaken last year meant that the overall positive operating business was also reflected in the figures. Good performance and earnings developments were achieved in almost all business areas, despite the still difficult market environment in construction in Germany.
outlook
Looking to the future, the BAUER Group plans to further improve economic development and wants to focus more on innovation and technology again. “We have to strive to be the best so that we can continue to compete in the coming years. And we want to be the best partner for our customers. We don’t just sell a product or a service – we sell a solution and help our customers to optimally overcome their challenges.”
general meeting
The publication of the 2023 annual report was mainly delayed by the cyber attack that occurred at the end of October 2023 and was initially planned for the end of June 2024. After discussions between the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, in order to minimize risk, it was decided to deconsolidate the Russian companies in the Machinery segment with the 2023 annual financial statements, which would have a negative effect on earnings for the segment and the Group. This was the main reason why, on the one hand, the business figures changed compared to the preliminary figures and, on the other hand, the approval and approval of the annual and consolidated financial statements by the Supervisory Board and their publication could only take place at the end of July.
As a result of the change in timing, the 2024 Annual General Meeting also had to be postponed because the statutory deadline for calling the meeting on the originally planned date was no longer sufficient. The new date for this year’s Annual General Meeting is Thursday, September 19, 2024.
The complete annual report can be found online at www.bauer.de.