Supply Chain Solutions segment
Business performance and level of orders
The value of order intake in the Supply Chain Solutions segment fell sharply to €1,370.7 million (H1 2022: €1,865.2 million). As expected, the market for warehouse automation solutions has turned relatively muted after several years of robust growth. Consequently, demand from customers weakened noticeably. Against this backdrop, the project business (business solutions) saw a marked decline in order intake, especially in the Americas and EMEA regions. Orders on hand in the service business (customer services) remained at an encouraging level, although this did not go far toward offsetting the drop in orders in the project business. As at June 30, 2023, the order book stood at €3,154.2 million and was thus almost on a par with the volume as at December 31, 2022 (€3,327.5 million).
in € million |
Q2 |
Q2 |
Change |
Q1 – Q2 |
Q1 – Q2 |
Change |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total revenue |
714.5 |
1,076.2 |
–33.6% |
1,497.0 |
2,096.0 |
–28.6% |
||
EBITDA |
23.5 |
94.2 |
–75.1% |
50.4 |
186.7 |
–73.0% |
||
Adjusted EBITDA |
27.9 |
94.8 |
–70.6% |
55.6 |
187.4 |
–70.3% |
||
EBIT |
–18.7 |
52.7 |
< –100% |
–34.7 |
104.9 |
< –100% |
||
Adjusted EBIT |
7.7 |
75.8 |
–89.8% |
14.8 |
149.8 |
–90.1% |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Adjusted EBITDA margin |
3.9% |
8.8% |
– |
3.7% |
8.9% |
– |
||
Adjusted EBIT margin |
1.1% |
7.0% |
– |
1.0% |
7.1% |
– |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Order intake |
873.2 |
1,022.0 |
–148.8 |
1,370.7 |
1,865.2 |
–494.5 |
||
Order book1 |
|
|
|
3,154.2 |
3,327.5 |
–173.3 |
||
|
||||||||
Revenue
The total revenue of the Supply Chain Solutions segment came to €1,497.0 million in the first six months of 2023, a substantial drop of 28.6 percent on the figure for the prior-year period (€2,096.0 million). This was mainly due to project delays and the significant impact on revenue in the reporting period resulting from the decline in order intake in the project business (business solutions) since the second half of 2022. By contrast, revenue in the service business (customer services) rose by 13.5 percent relative to the prior-year period. This meant that the proportion of the segment’s external revenue accounted for by the service business increased to 34.0 percent (H1 2022: 21.3 percent).
Earnings
Adjusted EBIT for the Supply Chain Solutions segment fell sharply year on year to €14.8 million in the first half of 2023 (H1 2022: €149.8 million). But the segment still returned to profitable territory following the loss reported in 2022 as a whole. Key factors contributing to the segment’s weak earnings in the first half of 2023 included the decline in revenue and the processing of lower-margin orders where only a small proportion of the increases in overall project costs could be passed on to customers.
The adjusted EBIT margin for the first six months of 2023 stood at 1.0 percent (H1 2022: 7.1 percent). After taking into account non-recurring items and purchase price allocation effects, EBIT amounted to minus €34.7 million (H1 2022: €104.9 million).
Adjusted EBITDA decreased to €55.6 million (H1 2022: €187.4 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin was 3.7 percent (H1 2022: 8.9 percent).