Business performance
regions
EMEA region
The Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region continued to develop encouragingly in the first half of 2022. While order intake increased in the first quarter, the second quarter saw a decline compared to the very strong second quarter of 2021. In northern and central Europe, volumes matched the previous year’s solid levels, while in southern Europe, individual customers exhibited more cautious investment behavior. Overall, order intake decreased by 3.1% to CHF 261.0 million (at constant exchange rates +4.8%). The main positive development related to demand for laser applications.
With a share of total revenue of roughly 50%, EMEA is Bystronic’s strongest region in terms of sales. In the first half of 2022, sales increased by 6.0% to CHF 222.3 million (at constant exchange rates +15.3%). Thanks to the strong order backlog, all markets contributed to the sales growth.
Americas region
The Americas region once again posted a strong rise in order intake. New orders increased by 13.3% (at constant exchange rates +9.3%) to CHF 168.4 million, which represents growth of 74% compared to the pre-pandemic level in the first half of 2019. All applications in the cutting and bending segments, and the gold segment in particular, contributed to this growth. The ongoing implementation of the regionalization strategy and the investments in the Hoffman Estates business site (Chicago) are thus bearing fruit.
Sales in the region increased by 17.5% (at constant exchange rates +13.3%) to CHF 131.4 million. The strongest sales growth, both for laser cutting machines and press brakes, was in the gold segment.
In addition to developing the automation solutions business, Bystronic will drive forward the sales of its own software solutions for the smart factory following their market launch in October 2022. These are meeting with great interest in the region.
China region
In the China region, momentum has slowed down noticeably. Due to COVID lockdowns and the economic slowdown, customers in all sectors were very cautious. Consequently, order intake declined by 48.6% to CHF 42.9 million (at constant exchange rates -50.6%).
With the exception of a few weeks, Bystronic was able to maintain its production operations at all three sites in Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Shanghai – albeit not at the usual level of capacity utilization. Although many customers were affected by lockdowns, Bystronic maintained regular virtual contact and offered maintenance and installation services to the extent possible.
Due to the various restrictions, net sales declined by 31.8% (at constant exchange rates -34.6%) to CHF 50.6 million. All applications and market segments were affected. However, Bystronic maintained its strong position in the region and is confident that it will be able to benefit from its broad portfolio once the Chinese market recovers.
APAC region
Order intake in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region increased by 32.8% (at constant exchange rates +38.5%) to a total of CHF 63.8 million, with double-digit demand growth in both quarters. All areas contributed to this growth: cutting, bending, and automation – and this in all price segments. Within the region, Australia in particular developed very favorably. Many customers are increasingly shifting production capacities from China to other markets in the Asia Pacific region, which drove strong growth in Australia.
In June, Bystronic inaugurated its new Brand Experience Center in Korea. In line with its regionalization strategy, Bystronic is thus strengthening its local footprint and offering customers in Asia the opportunity to test the latest solutions first-hand.
Net sales increased by 8.6% (at constant exchange rates +13.2%) to CHF 48.9 million.