The Cologne, Germany-based diesel engine manufacturing giant said the significant new order rise represented a continuation of an encouraging trend that emerged in Q4 2012.
New orders for Deutz were worth €388.5 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared to new orders valued at €276.6 million in Q4 2012. The new order value for Q1 2013 was also in line with the €390 million reported for Q1 2012.
The level of new orders secured for the agricultural machinery application segment was said by Deutz to have staged a “particularly impressive recovery” compared with the first three months of 2012.
Despite the encouraging new order sales rise, Deutz sold 22% less engines in the first quarter of this year compared to Q4 2012 – 36,238 compared to 46,461.
Revenue generated in the first three months of 2013 also declined to €289.9 million, which was a year-on-year decrease of 14% (Q1 2012: €336.9 million). This also represented a 10.1% decrease compared with Q4 2012, when revenue reached €322.5 million. Deutz said that the decline in revenue was low in relation to the fall in unit sales because higher-value engines that meet new emission standards are increasingly being sold in Europe and the US, and because of other effects of the “business mix”.
Deutz incurred an operating loss (EBIT) of €6.4 million in the first three months of 2013 due to what the company said was the seasonal decline in revenue (Q1 2012 saw an operating profit of €10 million). However, the firm stressed that its results for the traditionally challenging first trading quarter are not representative of the year as a whole.
“Our low level of debt and our cost-effective funding arrangements have further reduced our net interest expense,” said Dr Margarete Haase, the Board of Management member responsible for finance.
Another encouraging factor was said to be continuation of the positive cash-flow trend. This was underlined by Deutz’s net financial position, which has improved by €55.2 million year on year and amounted to -€69.3 million as at 31 March 2013.
“We expect to achieve revenues of €1.4 billion and an EBIT margin in excess of 3%. We are especially encouraged by the strong recovery in the volume of our new orders,” said Dr Helmut Leube, chairman of the Deutz Board of Management.
