PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2013

NEWS 9 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 12/13 www.petpla.net Krones announces financial reports and share ownership transfers Krones AG has reported improved revenues and EBT margin for Q3 and has confirmed its growth and earnings targets for the year as a whole. It expects higher revenues and improved profitability in 2014. The period from July to September saw revenue increased 7.8% year-on-year from 2012’s €607.9 million to €655.4 million. Sales in the first nine months of 2013 were up 7.1% year-on-year, from €1,897.6 million to €2,032.9 million. The company reported especially strong third quarter growth in the North and Cen- tral America and South America/Mexico sales regions. New orders in Q3 were up 12.7% year-over-year, from €639.5 million to €721.0 million. At €2,103.8 million, new orders in the first nine months of 2013 were 6.9% higher than 2012’s €1,967.3 million. Orders on hand were up 5.7% at 30 September 2013, from €1,012.1 million to €1,070.2million. Earnings before taxes (EBT) were up to €117.1 million in the first nine months of 2013, from €50.4 million in the same period in 2012, which was affected by a one-time expense of €40.6 million. The EBT margin was 5.8% after the first three quarters (2012: 4.8%). Net income amounted to €81.7million for the first nine months of 2013 (2012: €36.2 million), which corresponds to earnings per share of €2.64 (previous year: €1.20). Krones increased its return on capital employed (ROCE), the ratio of EBIT to average net tied-up capital, to 15.3% in the period from January to September (previous year: 6.7%). Equity ratio was 43.5% at the end of Q3 (31 December 2012: 37.8%), with net cash and cash equivalents (cash and cash equivalents less bank debt) of €120.4 mil- lion. Krones says that it expects to achieve 4% growth year- on-year and an EBT margin of 5.8% to 6.0% for 2013 as a whole. Its management is confident that the company will achieve its ROCE target of 15% in 2013, with a generation of free cash flow similar to that of the previous year. Wider forecasts are for stronger business momentum in 2014, in both the industrialised and emerging economies. Krones expects consolidated revenue to grow by 4% in 2014, with revenues in machines and lines for product filling and deco- ration increasing more sharply than in 2013. Krones also announced that Markus Tischer has been appointed to the Executive Board for International Services and Operations, effective January 1, 2014, and that Volker Kronseder, Chairman of the Executive Board, and Norman Kronseder, Member of the Supervisory Board, are making arrangements to ensure the future orderly transfer of their Krones shares to their children. Volker Kronseder has placed shares in a foundation for this purpose. The existing pool- ing agreement, under which the voting rights of all members of the Kronseder family and their enterprises are exercised as a voting trust, remains unaffected. The Kronseder family retains a 51.85% stake in Krones AG. www.krones.com PET wins sustainability award P.E.T. Engineering was presented with a plaque mark- ing the Distinction Award of in the Eco - Design category in the Sustainable Development Awards at the Ecomondo – Key Energy tradeshow in October 2013. The award was established in 2008 by the Foundation for Sustainable Development and Ecomondo - Fiera di Rimini, with the support of the President of the Republic of Italy. Spon- sorship was provided for the first time in 2013, by Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development. The Awards are made to companies whose activities and projects have been judged to have provided significant environmental benefits, have innovative content, and offer the poten- tial for economic and employment benefits. This year’s competition attracted the participation of more than 200 Italian companies in three categories: Eco - Design, Eco - Agricultural Activities, and start-ups. The citation for PET Engineering’s award highlighted the low environmental impact but high quality of its design activity in packag- ing. PET Engineering has also, this year, been awarded with the “Oscar dell’Imballaggio” for its very light 5 LW, 5l container, and the “Innobev Sustainability Award” for its “Swerve Neck” solution. www.petengineering.com ERRATUM An article on Issue 10/2013, p 63 of PETPlanet Insider, part of the K Show preview, contained an error relating to the productivity of Sacmi Imola’s IPS220 B machine. Here is the corrected report. Caps, containers and preforms The Sacmi stand showcased the company’s solutions for the manufacture of caps, preforms and containers and included presses capable of producing large ‘one-step’ articles, along with others designed to combine the best of hydraulic and full-electric technology. A key exhibit was the IPS220 B, an injection preform press that was origi- nally launched in 2012 and now incorporates a number of innovations, aimed at achieving higher competitiveness and flexibility. The machine was equipped with a 48-cavity mould running at a cycle time of 6.8s/12 g preform with Alaska neck finish. That rate translates to more than 25,000pph but Sacmi says that it is possible to run up to 72-cavity moulds on the same frame. The maximum preform size will be 190 mm length and 90 g weight. The machine was connected with a PVS002 vision inspection system equipped with six cameras and suitable for a deep quality inspection of preforms at speeds of up to 1200 pph. Sacmi’s stand also had an upgraded version of the CCM 48 S, optimised for the innovative COOL+ mould. The ver- sion on show at the fair produced 2000 caps/min. The new CHS Lean solution, which can inspect up to 150,000 caps/ hr and allows 360 O cap control, was on display, as was the CBF container manufacturing machine, another product originally launched in 2012. www.sacmi.com