In light of the ongoing difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of GEA Group AG have resolved that the Annual General Meeting for the 2019 fiscal year will be held as a virtual event. The AGM, which has been postponed from April 30 to November 26, 2020, will consequently take place without the physical presence of shareholders or their proxies.
As part of its continued focus on strategic core markets – the food, beverages and pharmaceutical industries – Düsseldorf-based technology group GEA is selling the compressor manufacturer Bock, which is in GEA’s Refrigeration Technologies division, to NORD Holding. The purchase agreement was signed yesterday. The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction. The transaction remains subject to regulatory clearance. Closing of the transaction is expected in early 2021.
GEA Group AG decided on strategic guidelines and significant investments to further optimize its production network. In this context, production at the Bodenheim site near Mainz will be discontinued by the end of 2024. The plant in Koszalin, Poland, will be expanded into a Center of Competence for pump production and comprehensive machining. GEA will invest around EUR 30 million in this expansion. Investments and a further consolidation of production and process activities are planned at other locations, too. The aim is to further strengthen GEA’s global production network in order to increase productivity and reduce its cost base.
EBITDA before restructuring measures (EUR 140 million) up by a substantial 26.2 percent in second quarter — Order intake (EUR 1,034 million) down 9.8 percent on previous year — Revenue (EUR 1,165 million) down 6.6 percent on previous year; service business more robust, share now up to 33 percent — ROCE up from 10.5 percent in the previous year to 14.8 percent — Free cash flow improves, reaching EUR 182 million in second quarter (previous year: EUR 9 million) — Net liquidity EUR 92 million as of reporting date (previous year: EUR -330 million) — Total workforce reduced by 1,141 employees — Outlook for financial year raised in part
Ad hoc disclosure in accordance with article 17 of MAR - GEA significantly improves preliminary earnings for the second quarter and raises part of its full-year 2020 guidance
In the first quarter of 2020, the technology company GEA was commissioned by Hochwald Foods GmbH to provide the entire technological setup for dairy processing at a new plant in the German town of Mechernich, near Cologne.
With the coronavirus crisis affecting operating business only to a very minor extent in the first quarter of 2020, technology group GEA began the current financial year with significant increases in both order intake and EBITDA before restructuring measures. These positive developments were achieved largely due to the new group organization introduced in January as well as to operational improvements resulting from measures introduced last year to increase efficiency in the group.
Düsseldorf, May 14, 2020 – GEA and SAP today announced a strategic partnership which will drive forward GEA’s digital transformation and fast-track the development of SAP’s product portfolio for leading engineering, technology and industrial companies. The two companies have a longstanding history of fruitful collaboration. The strategic partnership will elevate this relationship to a new level and realize mutual benefits for both companies.
Owing to the COVID-19 virus, the technology company GEA is postponing its Annual General Meeting originally planned for April 30, 2020, in Düsseldorf and will reschedule it for the end of the year. The health of the company’s shareholders, employees and the service providers involved takes the highest priority. By postponing the event, GEA is making an active contribution to slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
In November, GEA sold de Klokslag to Evert IJntema and Jan Dijkema. De Klokslag, which is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of large-scale plants for hard and semi hard cheese, has roughly 80 employees and, according to the latest figures, generates an annual revenue of around EUR 15 million.
Technology group GEA posted an increase in both order intake and revenue in the third quarter of 2019. Order intake rose to EUR 1.25 billion in the last quarter, an increase of around 5 percent compared to the same quarter in 2018. Both basic business and six large projects (three of which were awarded in dairy processing) contributed to this positive development.
The Supervisory Board of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has appointed Johannes Giloth (49) to the company’s Executive Board with effect from January 20, 2020, where he will assume responsibility for the newly created Procurement, Production and Logistics organization.
Düsseldorf-based technology group GEA is exploring a possible sale of GEA Bock as part of the Group’s continued focus on its strategic core markets – the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. As announced at the Capital Markets Day in September, GEA plans to divest selected activities of the future Farm Technologies and Refrigeration Technologies divisions in this connection.
Technology group GEA will today present new medium-term targets for the entire Group and its five future divisions at the Capital Markets Day. The Group plans that consolidated revenues will grow by an average of 2.0–3.0 percent per year until 2022.
Technology group GEA acquired several major orders from various industries at the start of the third quarter, making up substantial ground after sluggish order intake from project business in the previous quarter.
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft is standing by its business outlook for 2019, despite various special effects having a negative impact on earnings in the second quarter of the year.
Technology group GEA has outlined its new organizational structure, which will be implemented gradually from October 1, 2019 onwards and become effective January 1, 2020. Going forward, GEA will be organized in five divisions with each up to six sub-divisions.
Marcus A. Ketter (51) today became Chief Financial Officer of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft. His predecessor Dr. Helmut Schmale (62) left the company on May 17, 2019, after more than 10 years in this position.
Düsseldorf-based engineering group GEA posted order intake of around EUR 1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2019, a rise of 7.6 percent.
Technology group GEA has announced its definitive figures for fiscal 2018. In addition, Stefan Klebert, GEA’s new CEO, presented his analysis of the status quo and outlined the immediate action the company will take.
Today, Stefan Klebert (53) became chairman of the Executive Board of the GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, a body that he joined on November 15, 2018. His predecessor, Jürg Oleas (61), has left the company, as planned, after spending more than 14 years as head of the Group.
The Supervisory Board of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has appointed Marcus A. Ketter (50) to the company’s Executive Board with effect from May 20, 2019. He is set to succeed the long-standing Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Helmut Schmale (62), who will leave the company as of May 17, 2019.
Colin Hall (47) was appointed to the Supervisory Board of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft by order of the Düsseldorf local court. Colin Hall, an American national, is Head of Investments at Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), simultaneously holding the position of CEO at Sienna Capital, a 100 percent subsidiary of GBL. He succeeds Prof. Dr. Ing. Werner J. Bauer (67), who resigned from the Supervisory Board for personal reasons as of November 12, 2018. It is planned that Colin Hall will stand as a candidate for election by the shareholders in April 2019.
After a very good previous quarter, GEA also closed the third quarter of 2018 on a positive note. GEA set new third quarter records for both order intake and revenue. The operating EBITDA margin was also up year-on-year, enabling GEA to nearly reverse the deficit from a weak first quarter.
GEA successfully concluded the sale of its GEA Westfalia Separator Production France SAS entity, i.e. its French standard separators production facility and the respective real estate in Château-Thierry (Hauts-de-France region) to the French industrial group Altifort as planned.
At today’s meeting, the Supervisory Board of GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has appointed Stefan Klebert (53) to the company’s Executive Board with effect from November 15, 2018. On February 18, 2019, he will succeed the long-serving CEO, Jürg Oleas (60), who is going to leave the company after completion of the fiscal year and after handing over the reins in February 2019.
In the second quarter of 2018, GEA topped the previous year’s figure for order intake, setting a new quarterly record. Second-quarter revenue was above the level of the previous year. Operating EBITDA in the second quarter was slightly above the figure for the same quarter of the previous year.
Thanks to robust growth in small and mid-sized orders, GEA’s order intake in the first quarter of 2018 almost matched the level of the previous year.
On the occasion of today’s Capital Markets Day held in London, GEA, the Düsseldorf-based technology group, presents its strategic orientation and mid-term prospects for growth.
Düsseldorf-based technology group GEA has published figures for the 2017 financial year together with a business outlook for 2018. The group’s order intake for the whole of 2017 amounted to EUR 4,751 million, which is 1.7 percent above the previous year’s level and sets a new record for GEA.
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft completed its share buyback program in the amount of up to EUR 450 million within the envisaged timeframe. Between March 8, 2017, and February 6, 2018, a total of 12,003,304 shares were repurchased on the stock market.
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has released preliminary figures for fiscal year 2017 as well as an initial indication for 2018. Fiscal year 2018 is anticipated to be challenging, in particular due to the sustained weakness of dairy processing, an important customer industry, as well as the strength of the euro. GEA has already launched important strategic initiatives.
GEA completed the acquisition of Vipoll, headquartered in Križevci pri Ljutomeru, Slovenia, which was signed in November 2017. With the acquisition, GEA has added to its group a manufacturer of filling technologies for soft drinks, beer and fresh milk products into glass bottles and cans, as well as pet bottles.