Around 700 shareholders attended the Annual General Meeting of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) for the financial year 2023/2024 at the Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim today. Just under 27.5 percent of HEIDELBERG’s share capital was represented at the event. The Management Board provided shareholders with insights into the company’s strategic direction, the balance sheet figures for the past financial year (April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024), and the future outlook.
CEO Jürgen Otto, in his first Annual General Meeting for the company, expressed confidence in HEIDELBERG's ability to create a prosperous future. HEIDELBERG concluded the 2023/2024 financial year with a stable financial position, marking the third consecutive year of generating a net profit. As a global technology leader in the printing industry and a comprehensive solution provider for modern printing processes, HEIDELBERG experienced its best order intake in recent years at the drupa trade fair at the beginning of the new 2024/2025 financial year. Otto also underscored the company's internal expertise as a crucial asset for sustained success.
The company is actively focusing on a growth strategy to address increasing costs. Jürgen Otto emphasized the need for HEIDELBERG to grow its turnover in the future while maintaining strict cost discipline, especially in terms of personnel costs. Leveraging its strong international presence in approximately 170 countries, HEIDELBERG aims to capitalize on its largest global sales and service network in the printing industry to drive sales growth. The company is looking to expand further, particularly in growth markets like Asia, the USA, and emerging countries, by exploring potential collaborations to tap into new sectors using its global network.
HEIDELBERG is expanding its value chain with a focus on digital and packaging printing, evident through partnerships with Canon for industrial inkjet printing and the development of the Boardmaster system for flexible paper packaging. In addition, the company's industrial business is seeking to enter new markets beyond the printing industry, such as high-precision mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, and the energy sector. At the recent Annual General Meeting, shareholders voted on various agenda items, including the election of three shareholder representatives to the Supervisory Board. Ms. Li Li, Ms. Karin Dohm, and Mr. Jeppe Frandsen were elected, with strong shareholder support for the management's proposed candidates. The newly elected members will contribute their skills and experience to actively support the company. The terms of office for Supervisory Board members Dr. Fritz Oesterle and Ms. Li Li ended at the meeting, and Mr. Ferdinand Rüesch resigned from the board. Shareholders also approved eight other resolutions.
