Increased forecast for 2023

Against the backdrop of the updated corporate planning and the good business trend in the first quarter of 2023, Jungheinrich is raising its forecast ranges for 2023.

The increased forecast also includes the prorated effects from the acquisition of the US Storage Solutions group completed on March 15, 2023. The values taken into account are subject to price fluctuations.

The Executive Board now expects order intake for the full year 2023 to be between €5.0 billion and €5.4 billion (previously: €4.8 billion to €5.2 billion). Group sales are forecast to range from €5.1 billion to €5.5 billion (previously: €4.9 billion to €5.3 billion). These ranges take into account order intake of €0.3 billion and sales of €0.2 billion for the Storage Solutions group.

Based on current estimates, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) will be between €400 million and €450 million in 2023 (previously: €350 million to €400 million). It includes one-time transaction-related costs from the acquisition of the Storage Solutions group of around 9 million euros and negative effects from the purchase price allocation of between 15 million euros and 20 million euros. The EBIT corridor also takes into account around half of the variable performance-related compensation component for the management of the Storage Solutions group amounting to €15 million, which was determined in accordance with the conditions set out in the transaction. The negative effects are partly offset by the pro-rata operating profit of Storage Solutions (around €20 million). The increased EBIT forecast results in an EBIT margin in the range of 7.8 percent to 8.6 percent (previously: 7.3 percent to 8.1 percent).

Earnings before taxes (EBT) are expected to reach €370 million to €420 million (previously: €325 million to €375 million) with a resulting EBT margin of between 7.2 percent and 8.0 percent (previously: 6.6 percent to 7.4 percent). The Executive Board expects ROCE to be between 15 percent and 18 percent (previously: between 13 percent and 16 percent).

Furthermore, free cash flow is expected to be significantly better than in the previous year (-€239 million), but will remain negative taking into account the acquisition of Storage Solutions. The purchase price paid of around 352 million euros will impact free cash flow by around 310 million euros. Part of the purchase price was used to repay bank liabilities and is therefore not part of the free cash flow.

Based on preliminary figures for the 1st quarter 2023, order intake is €1.35 billion (prior year: €1.33 billion), sales €1.29 billion (prior year: €1.06 billion) and EBIT €120 million (prior year: €78 million) with an EBIT margin of 9.3 percent (prior year: 7.3 percent). This includes negative effects in connection with the acquisition of Storage Solutions amounting to 9 million euros, largely resulting from one-time transaction-related costs. EBT was €120 million (previous year: €67 million) with an EBT margin of 9.3 percent (previous year: 6.3 percent).

Jungheinrich AG’s quarterly statement as of March 31, 2023, will be published on May 8, 2023.