Oerlikon’s Manmade Fibers Segment Continued its Success Streak
Oerlikon, a leading technology developer for the manmade fiber industry, announced the second quarter figures. The Manmade Fibers Segment continued its success streak, significantly boosting orders and sales in the second quarter.
The filament equipment market, led primarily by China, was the main contributor to the excellent top-line improvement, and was strongly supported by business wins for texturing, carpet yarn (bulked continuous filament, BCF) and polymer processing equipment and systems. In the second quarter, Segment sales doubled in China, and tripled in India and North America as compared to the same period in the previous year.
Manmade Fibers Segment significantly improved operating profitability with an EBITDA margin for Q2 2018 of 11.8 %, while continuing to ramp up production capacities to manage the significant increase in orders. EBIT for Q2 2018 stood at CHF 26 million (Q2 2017: CHF -2 million) and the EBIT margin was 9.5 %.
In the second quarter, the Segment acquired AC-Automation, an engineering company based in Germany, enabling the Segment to integrate additional large-scale plant automation solutions for customers in the textile industry. The Segment also announced the divestment of its technology solutions for tape and monofilament plants to the Austrian Starlinger Group, allowing the Segment to focus on its filament, staple fiber and nonwovens businesses. For its nonwovens business, the Segment has received a new order from Germany and foresees a promising pipeline, especially in Europe and Asia.
