Bauer sticks to 2022 financial forecast

Earlier this year Bauer Maschinen completed the testing of its first fully electric foundation drilling rig, the eBG 33. (PHOTO: Bauer Maschinen)

Bauer Group has reported a 9.6% year-on-year rise in its revenues for the first half of 2022, despite a “very different” performance from its Construction, Resources and Machinery business divisions.

Up from €767.4 million in 2021, the first six months of the year saw the company achieve revenues of €841.4 million, with a “record level” order backlog of €1.51 billion - 17.9% more than the €1.27 billion it reported for the same period in 2021.

While this rise was present in all three divisions - and was accompanied by an 11% rise in the group’s order intake, Bauer CEO Michael Stomberg said, “In the Machinery segment, the positive trend in terms of output, earnings and order intake continued.

“Although output volume in the Construction segment increased slightly as planned, earnings were below our expectations. The Resources segment also fell short of plan in the first half of the year.”

The first half of 2022 saw Bauer’s Machinery business achieve a 19.8% rise in year-on-year revenues, amounting to €376.6 million, and its Construction division brought in €367 million in revenues, slightly above the €358.6 million it achieved the previous year. 

While Bauer’s Resources business started off the 2022 financial year as expected, by the end of the first six months of the year its revenues of €133.8 million reflected a 3.2% drop on the same period in 2021. 

According to Bauer, the postponement of two major projects in Jordan due to funding issues and a deterioration of marketing opportunities in South Africa, which heavily impacted the segment’s drilling services, were the primary causes of the revenue drop.

While Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and supply chain pressures remain a concern and may affect the company’s operations in the near future, Bauer said its “outlook for the 2022 financial year remains unchanged” overall. 

However, “The development in the first half of the year shows a shift in our expectations for the individual segments,” said Stomberg.

“The Machinery segment is developing better than planned and our prospects for the second half of the year are somewhat more optimistic than three months ago.

“By contrast, the development in the Construction and Resources segments fell short of expectations on the earnings side. Overall, however, this does not mean a change in our assumptions for the Group.

“As published in the 2021 Annual Report, we therefore continue to expect a significant increase in total Group revenues and EBIT for the Group.”