The bad news from the local industry continues. On Thursday, Styrian machine and installation manufacturer Andritz reported lower turnover and profit in the third quarter. Printed circuit board manufacturer AT&S also recorded heavy losses.
At Andritz, turnover in the third quarter fell by three percent year on year to 2.04 billion euros. The operating result fell by 1.3 percent to 174.1 million euros, the consolidated result fell by five percent to 118.4 million euros, the company announced. Over three quarters, turnover also fell by three percent to 6.21 billion euros.
Silver lining in third quarter, but “continued difficult environment”
Order intake in the first three quarters amounted to 5.75 billion euros, 11.8 percent lower than in the same period last year. Bright spot: 5.5 percent more orders were received in the third quarter than the year before. “Given the continued difficult economic environment, we are satisfied with the order intake in the third quarter and are pleased that we have been able to maintain our profitability at last year’s levels despite declining sales,” says CEO Joachim Schönbeck.
He does not expect the markets to recover quickly. That is why Andritz has slightly adjusted his forecast for the current financial year downwards and now expects a slight decline in turnover instead of stable turnover and stable profitability.
AT&S: Weakening automotive and industrial customers
At AT&S the loss in the first half of the year amounted to 63 million euros. In the same period last year a profit of 49 million was achieved. Turnover fell by two percent to 800 million euros in the first six months of the current financial year, the Leoben-based company announced on Thursday.
However, volumes have increased significantly, says board spokesman Peter Schneider. In the second quarter, AT&S managed to increase sales by 29 percent to 451 million euros compared to the previous quarter, reaching the level of the previous year. Nevertheless, the company faces enormous price pressure for printed circuit boards and especially IC substrates (the connections between the microchip and the board) and customer weakness in the European automotive and industrial markets.
This is also reflected in the operating result, which fell by 27 percent to 217 million euros in the first half of the year. A decline of 35 percent was recorded in the second quarter.
No rapid improvement
A rapid improvement in the market environment is not in sight; there will be no change in the price pressure or the fluctuating ordering behavior of an important customer for the time being. In addition, large-scale production at the two new factories will be postponed for one or two quarters, meaning they will not contribute to sales in the current fiscal year.
Expansion in Leoben and Malaysia
The forecast for the current financial year has therefore been adjusted: turnover is now expected to be between 1.5 and 1.6 billion euros, instead of 1.6 to 1.7 billion. With the expansion of production capacities in Kulim, Malaysia, and at the Leoben site, sales are expected to increase to approximately €3 billion in the 2026/27 financial year, the company announced.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
