In the first nine months of the year, around 60% (previous year: 58%) of group sales come from the Fineblanking/Forming Segment. The positive trend in the parts & components business in Europe and Japan did not quite offset the sharp fall-off in presses & systems, as a number of customers deferred major projects. The repositioning of Schmid, our second brand of presses, is making good progress.
Assembly/Automation contributed 24% (previous year: 28%) of consolidated sales. Both the automation systems and the automation components businesses improved their performance slightly over the year-back period.
The Plastic/Metal Components Segment contributed 16% (14%) to sales. With a number of projects getting off to a good start, it will achieve its budget targets for the financial year.
Entering the final quarter on an optimistic note
With order intake up on the year-back period and a higher level of orders in hand, the Group still puts its sales for the current financial year at approximately CHF 400 million and expects its operating result to break even. The July result confirms these expectations. The Board of Directors and management are pushing through rigorous measures to improve operational processes and increase efficiency, thereby bringing about a sustained improvement in the Feintool Group's competitiveness and its future prospects.
The media release can be downloaded from the following link:
