Heidelberg Materials increases revenue by 5% in 1H23

Heidelberg Materials reports that its revenue rose by 5.3 per cent in the 1H23 to EUR10,473m (previous year: EUR9950m). Excluding scope and currency effects, the increase amounted to 8.5 per cent. Operating EBITDA reached EUR1787m up from EUR1525 in the 1H22 and EBITDA margin grew by 17.1 per cent in the 1H23 compared to 15.3 per cent in the 1H22. Operating EBIT totalled EUR1189m in the 1H23 up from EUR980m in the 1H22 or up 37.5 per cent LfL.

“We have closed the first half of 2023 with a good result,” stated Dr Dominik von Achten, chairman of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Materials. “Even in a weaker market environment, with significant declines in sales volumes in some cases, we performed quite well. We remain confident about the second half of the year and are once again upgrading our outlook for 2023 significantly. 

In addition to revenue growth, continuous cost management and the slight easing on the energy and raw materials markets in particular contributed to the positive development of results. The downward trend in sales volumes continued in the second quarter of 2023. High inflation and a further increase in financing costs led to a drop in construction activity, especially in residential construction. 

Regional results
Western and southern Europe revenues reached EUR3325m in the 1H23, up 5.4 per cent from EUR3155m in the 1H22. Northern and eastern Europe-central Asia increased revenue to EUR1755m in the 1H23 from EUR1668m in the 1H22, up 5.2 per cent.

North America was a strong growth area increasing revenue to EUR2434m in the 1H23 from EUR2098m in the 1H22, up 16 per cent. Asia-Pacific saw revenue rise to EUR1811m, a rise of 5.9 per cent of EUR1710m recorded in the 1H22. Africa-eastern Mediterranean basin’s revenue fell by 8.5 per cent to EUR949m rom EUR1037m in the 1H22.

Group services revenue declined to EUR723m, down 25.7 per cent from EUR973m posted in the 1H22.

Outlook
While Heidelberg Materials continues to expect a moderate increase in revenue (excluding scope and exchange rate effects) compared with the previous year, it now anticipates a result from current operations of EUR2.7bn to EUR2.9bn (1Q23 forecast: EUR2.50bn to EUR2.65bn; Annual and Sustainability Report 2022 forecast: EUR2.35bn to EUR2.65bn).