Supply Chain Solutions segment
Business performance and level of orders
At €497.5 million, the value of order intake in the Supply Chain Solutions segment was considerably lower than the figure for the prior-year period (Q1 2022: €843.2 million). The ongoing normalization of growth in the market for supply chain solutions resulted in a sharp decline in order intake in the project business (business solutions). In addition, the continued unwillingness of customers to make capital expenditure decisions resulted in them putting back new orders. The reduction in the project business, which affected both the core North America market and the EMEA region, was only offset to a minor extent by a further encouraging rise in orders in the service business (customer services).
in € million |
Q1 |
Q1 |
Change |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total revenue |
782.5 |
1,019.8 |
–23.3% |
||
EBITDA |
26.9 |
92.5 |
–70.9% |
||
Adjusted EBITDA |
27.7 |
92.7 |
–70.1% |
||
EBIT |
–15.9 |
52.2 |
< –100% |
||
Adjusted EBIT |
7.1 |
74.0 |
–90.4% |
||
|
|
|
|
||
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
3.5% |
9.1% |
– |
||
Adjusted EBIT margin |
0.9% |
7.3% |
– |
||
|
|
|
|
||
Order intake |
497.5 |
843.2 |
–41.0% |
||
Order book1 |
3,000.3 |
3,327.5 |
–9.8% |
||
|
|||||
Revenue
The total revenue of the Supply Chain Solutions segment came to €782.5 million in the first quarter of 2023, a substantial drop of 23.3 percent on the figure for the prior-year period (Q1 2022: €1,019.8 million). This was mainly due to the expected significant impact on revenue growth in the reporting quarter resulting from the decline in order intake in the project business (business solutions) in previous quarters. By contrast, revenue in the service business (customer services) rose sharply by 20.3 percent relative to the prior-year period. The proportion of the segment’s external revenue accounted for by the service business came to 31.6 percent (Q1 2022: 20.1 percent).
Earnings
The adjusted EBIT of the Supply Chain Solutions segment fell sharply to €7.1 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2022: €74.0 million). However, this still represented a return to profitable territory following the loss reported in 2022. The segment’s quarterly results were weak because it was working through generally lower-margin orders from the order book, because projects were delayed by a lack of bought-in parts, and because of the persistent shortage of skilled workers, particularly in North America.
The adjusted EBIT margin for the reporting quarter stood at 0.9 percent (Q1 2022: 7.3 percent). After taking into account non-recurring items and purchase price allocation effects, EBIT amounted to minus €15.9 million (Q1 2022: €52.2 million).
Adjusted EBITDA decreased to €27.7 million (Q1 2022: €92.7 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin was 3.5 percent (Q1 2022: 9.1 percent).