Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) opened the financial year 2026-27 with steady progress on its transition into a diversified technology firm. To drive future growth, the company HEIDELBERG is expanding its core business by integrating manroland sheetfed lifecycle business and POLAR production operations. Additionally, HEIDELBERG is capturing new market opportunities within the European defence sector and energy storage systems.

As part of the manroland sheetfed transaction, HEIDELBERG has also secured the intellectual property rights for the Roland 900 / Cartonmaster in the large-format sheetfed offset segment. The first press of this model has already been sold, and HEIDELBERG is currently looking into further production and development options for this system at a low-cost location. In this way, the company is reinforcing its leading position in the printing and packaging sector.

Live Hub to Demonstrate Integrated Drone Defence

At the recent international aerospace trade show ILA Berlin, ONBERG signed a memorandum of understanding for a further joint venture with Ukrainian drone developer Skyeton. The Skyeton portfolio includes high-tech, combat-proven surveillance drones, which are being combined with the HEIDELBERG unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to create an autonomous system of systems. The unmanned air-ground systems that are currently being developed in rapid innovation cycles in Ukraine are increasingly regarded as a future defence solution. In July, ONBERG opened a live hub to demonstrate integrated counter-UAS capabilities at its Brandenburg site, where decision-makers from public authorities, operators of critical infrastructure, the armed forces, and industry can see exactly how integrated protection from enemy drones works in practice.

The move by HD Advanced Technologies into the production of sodium-ion battery storage systems is also opening up new potential. The company has teamed up with Swiss business PHENOGY to collaborate on a technology and industry platform in this sector. As an initial step, HD Advanced Technologies will start handling the industrial manufacturing of complete energy storage systems for PHENOGY—from procurement and production through to rollout, installation, service, and maintenance. The two companies are also laying the groundwork for a joint venture focusing on the development and industrial manufacturing of sodium-ion battery cells based on PHENOGY’s cell chemistry and a specific printing process from HEIDELBERG.

“This financial year at HEIDELBERG is all about investments in line with our strategic agenda. We are looking to further strengthen the company’s market position and tap into new potential. This will create the basis for profitable growth and sustainable value enhancement in the coming years,” says HEIDELBERG CEO Jürgen Otto.

Solid Start to FY 2026-27

HEIDELBERG recorded a solid start to the first quarter of financial year 2026-27 (1 April to 30 June 30 2026), navigating persistently challenging underlying conditions. The company recorded an incoming orders figure of €537 million, representing a slight decline from €559 million recorded in the equivalent quarter of the previous year. Management stated that these figures establish a solid foundation for further business development. Meanwhile, the phasing-out of a state-subsidised investment programme in Italy heavily impacted first-quarter performance, reducing incoming orders in the region by over €60 million compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The positive developments in China and the rest of Asia only partly compensated for this.

First-quarter sales dropped to €404 million from €466 million in the same period last year, meeting prior market expectations. While the company posted strong sales growth in China, the UK, and Brazil, performance slowed across other international markets, especially in the EMEA region. Adjusted for special items, the EBITDA margin for the first quarter of financial year 2026-27 slipped to 0.2% from 4.4% year-over-year, primarily due to the lower volume of sales. Free cash flow followed typical seasonal trends, finishing the quarter negative at €-77 million compared to €-68 million in the prior year. The net result after taxes for the first quarter amounted to €-32 million, compared to €-11 million for the same period last year.

The HEIDELBERG Technology segment’s incoming orders and sales after three months exceeded the level recorded in the equivalent period of the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA remained stable at €-4 million. A partly expected downturn in the EMEA region was a particular factor contributing to the Print & Packaging Equipment segment’s lower incoming orders and sales. In the Digital Solutions & Lifestyle segment, incoming orders after three months were around 5% up on the equivalent quarter of the previous year, while sales matched the previous year’s quarterly figure.

“In our core business, we are targeting our investments toward growth markets, which is also boosting our service, consumables, and spare parts business,” says Dr. David Schmedding, Chief Technology & Sales Officer at HEIDELBERG. “At the same time, we can increase the proportion of repeat sales and better balance out new machine business, which tends to depend on economic trends,” he adds.

Forecast for FY 2026-27 Confirmed

The forecast for financial year 2026-27 remains unchanged. The company is expecting stable group sales matching the previous year’s level in financial year 2026-27 and a noticeable improvement in the adjusted EBITDA margin compared with the previous year. It is assumed that there will be no substantial changes in relevant exchange rates for business activities.

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