Following the positive first half of 2024, the third quarter also went well for Krones. The company remained on its profitable growth track and, after the first nine months, confirmed the Group financial targets for the full year 2024.
Revenue up 11.2% in first three quarters – order intake remains at high level
Krones’ strong revenue growth continued in the third quarter of 2024. At €1,318.7 million, revenue increased by 13.2% compared to the previous year (€1,164.7 million). Efficiency in production improved due to good material availability. In the previous year, production output was affected at times by tight supplies of electrical components. Part of the revenue growth is due to the acquisition of Netstal Maschinen AG.
In the first nine months of 2024, revenue went up by 11.2% year on year, from €3,485.6 million to €3,874.8 million. In total, growth in the first three quarters was therefore within the full-year 2024 guidance range of 9% to 13%.
At €1,323.2 million in the third quarter of 2024, order intake increased slightly relative to the second quarter (€1,310.2 million) and nearly matched the high level of the third quarter of the previous year (€1,327.7 million). Order intake from January to September 2024 came to €4,116.1 million (previous year: €4,113.6 million). Customer order activity therefore remained stable at a high level in the first three quarters of 2024. The book-to-bill ratio in the first nine months was 1.06. Despite critical overall economic conditions, the willingness of customers from the beverage industry to invest remains good. Krones also expects a book-to-bill ratio greater than 1 for the full year 2024.
Due to the stable order intake, the order backlog continued to rise from January to September. At €4,363.6 million as of the end of September 2024, Krones’ order backlog was up 5.9% on the 2023 year-end (€4,122.3 million). Compared to a year earlier (€4,094.4 million), the order backlog increased by 6.6%. The very large order backlog ensures production capacity utilisation through to the end of 2025.
Krones improves profitability – EBITDA margin up from 9.5% to 10.1% in first three quarters of 2024
Despite ongoing high personnel and material costs, Krones’ profitability further improved between January and September 2024. This was mainly due to the good capacity utilisation and the company’s increased efficiency. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up in the first three quarters of 2024 by 17.7% year on year, from €332.3 million to €391.1 million. The EBITDA margin improved significantly from 9.5% to 10.1%. This placed the figure for the first nine months within the full-year guidance range of 9.8% to 10.3%.
Earnings before taxes (EBT) went up between January and September 2024 by 17.1% to €275.6 million, while the EBT margin rose to 7.1% (previous year: 6.8%). On the bottom line, the consolidated net income of €200.7 million for the first three quarters of 2024 was 14.2% higher than in the previous year. This corresponds to earnings per share of €6.35 (previous year: €5.56).
In the third quarter of 2024, Krones’ EBITDA increased by 21.6 % year on year to €134.9 million. The EBITDA margin went up from 9.5% to 10.2%. EBT improved by 21.0% to €89.9 million. Krones generated consolidated net income of €65.7 million in the third quarter, up 21.0% year on year. Earnings per share increased to €2.08 (previous year: €1.72).
