After a successful first half of the year, the third quarter of 2023 also went well for Krones. Although the overall economic outlook has clouded over, the company’s international customers in the food and beverage industry continue to show high levels of market activity and willingness to invest. This reflects the fact that demand for packaged beverages is robust to economic cycles and continues to grow at a steady rate.
Demand for Krones’ products and services remains strong. In the third quarter of 2023, order intake improved by 4.3% on the previous quarter to €1,327.7 million. Order backlog exceeds the €4 billion mark for the first time and, at €4.09 billion, ensures capacity utilisation in plant and project business through to 2025. Krones’ revenue developed well between January and September, despite the tight supply of electrical components, rising by 14.5% to €3,485.6 million. The company significantly improved profitability in a challenging environment in the first three quarters of 2023. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up by 23.0% to €332.3 million. The EBITDA margin rose to 9.5% (previous year: 8.9%).
Krones confirms its full-year guidance for 2023. The Executive Board expects revenue growth of 11% to 13%. In addition, the company aims to further improve profitability and forecasts an EBITDA margin of 9% to 10% in 2023. For return on capital employed (ROCE), Krones expects an increase to between 15% and 17%.
