The Zumtobel Group reached several important milestones during the 2019/20 financial year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. After two years of losses, the company is again generating solid earnings. Adjusted Group EBIT nearly doubled to EUR 53.9 million despite a slight decline in revenues due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Alfred Felder, CEO, Zumtobel Group said: “The improvement in earnings shows that we are on the right course and can now enjoy the first fruits of the strategy we have consistently followed since 2018. The Zumtobel Group now has a considerably stronger position, which represents an advantage, especially under the current exceptional circumstances.” He added: “However, the company has been in an extreme situation since the beginning of March due to the global spread of COVID-19. We reacted quickly to the decline in revenues and put effective crisis management in place. Our central goal at present is to steer the company safely through the crisis.”
The Zumtobel Group generated revenue growth of 1.5% up to and including February, meaning the first 10 months of 2019/20, but the worldwide restrictions to contain the pandemic led to a year-on-year decline of 2.6% to EUR 1,131.3 million (FX-adjusted: minus 3.1%) for the full financial year.
Group EBIT, adjusted for special effects, grew by 95% to EUR 53.9 million in 2019/20 (2018/19: EUR 27.6 million). The adjusted EBIT margin increased from 2.4% to 4.8% and now lies at the upper end of the forecast 3% to 5% target range.
