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Sep 08, 2023

Price increases continue to push commercial kitchen equipment supplier Rational

LANDSBERG AM LECH (dpa-AFX) - The reduction of the high order backlog has brought the catering kitchen supplier Rational also in the second quarter significantly higher sales and profits. "After a

LANDSBERG AM LECH (dpa-AFX) - The reduction of the high order backlog has brought the catering kitchen supplier Rational also in the second quarter significantly higher sales and profits. "After a successful start to 2023, we were also able to build on these successes in the second quarter," said company CEO Peter Stadelmann on Thursday when presenting the quarterly figures. Things are not expected to go quite as well in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, the company intends to spend more money on sales and order acquisition. The Board of Management confirmed its targets for the year.

The MDax company sold more equipment in the second quarter, but also benefited from price increases. Compared with the same period last year, the company's profits rose by a fifth to around 278 million euros, according to a statement from Landsberg am Lech. Experts had expected a somewhat smaller increase.

Earnings were also better than expected by the market. In the three months to the end of June, operating profit (Ebit) was 53 percent up on the previous year at just under 70 million euros. The operating margin improved to 25 percent (previous year: 19.5 percent) because costs rose less than sales. The bottom line was a profit of 54.4 million euros, compared to 34.7 million euros in the same period last year.

At that time, Rational - like many companies in a wide range of industries - was still clearly suffering from worldwide shortages of electronic chips, as production and logistics had come to a standstill due to the Corona disruptions.

As at the start of the year, Rational's business grew particularly strongly in North America in the second quarter, with an increase of 57 percent. The company is expanding its sales activities and service network there, reaching more and more customers in the area business. In Asia and Latin America, Rational grew by 37 percent and 26 percent respectively. While sales in Europe (excluding Germany) rose by seven percent, they fell slightly in Germany.

As business grew, Rational also hired employees. With 2486 employees worldwide, 1430 of them in Germany, at the end of June, the number of employees increased by six percent year-on-year.

In the further course of the year, the company's management expects a continued reduction in the order backlog, which still stood at around 160 million euros at the end of June. In addition, customer order patterns are likely to normalize. As a result, the usual seasonality of earnings towards a stronger fourth quarter is not to be expected, it said. Sales in the second half of the year are expected to be slightly below those of the first half.

For the full year, sales are expected to continue to grow at a high single-digit rate compared to the previous year. The operating margin (Ebit margin) is expected to come out slightly below the previous year due to rising costs such as for sales and expansion of international sites. If the cost reductions continue, the Ebit margin could be in the range of the previous year, said CFO Jorg Walter./mne/ngu/mis