In the official statement made by Rieter, an order intake of CHF 975.3 million was made publicized, which corresponds to an increase of 289% compared to the previous year period (first half of 2020: CHF 250.7 million). The recovery is broadly supported globally and is based on a catch-up effect relating to the years 2019 and 2020 and a regional shift in demand. Rieter is benefitting from its innovative product portfolio and the company’s global positioning. The highest order intake was recorded in Turkey.
On June 30, 2021, the company had an order backlog of about CHF 1 135 million (June 30, 2020: about CHF 490 million).
Sales by Region
In the Asian countries, Rieter recorded sales of CHF 137.0 million (+57%) for the first half of the financial year 2021. In China, sales rose by 85% to CHF 68.5 million due to spinning mills investing in the improvement of their competitiveness. The recovery of the market in India resulted in a significant increase of 188% to CHF 51.0 million.
In Turkey, sales improved slightly to CHF 59.8 million (+17%). Sales increased by 94% to CHF 59.8 million in the region North and South America, driven by a considerable increase in demand in Latin America.
Strategy Implementation and Crisis Management
In recent years, Rieter has consistently implemented its strategy based on the cornerstones of innovation leadership, strengthening the components, spare parts and services businesses, and adjusting cost structures.
Crisis management in the pandemic year of 2020 was aimed at protecting employees, fulfilling customer commitments, ensuring liquidity, and also strengthening the market position for the time after the pandemic as well as retaining the ability to benefit from the incipient market recovery.
The focus for 2021 remains on the implementation of this strategy. The measures for crisis management relating to the protection of employees and fulfilling customer commitments are still in effect in countries that continue to be affected by the pandemic.
The Rieter Board of Directors has approved the implementation of the CAMPUS project. The Rieter CAMPUS comprises a customer and technology center as well as an administration building at the Winterthur location. It will make an important contribution to the implementation of the innovation strategy and to the enhancement of Rieter’s technology leadership position.
Outlook
As already announced, the first half of 2021 has been characterized by a strong market recovery in combination with a regional shift in demand for new machinery and systems. Rieter anticipates a normalization of the demand for new systems in the coming months. The company assumes that spinning mills will continue to work at high-capacity levels.
For the full year, Rieter expects sales to be above CHF 900 million.
The realization of sales from the order backlog continues to be associated with risks in light of bottlenecks in material deliveries and freight capacities as well as the ongoing pandemic in key markets for Rieter.
About Rieter
Rieter is the world’s leading supplier of systems for short-staple fiber spinning. Based in Winterthur (Switzerland), the company develops and manufactures machinery, systems and components used to convert natural and manmade fibers and their blends into yarns. Rieter is the only supplier worldwide to cover both spinning preparation processes and all four end spinning processes currently established on the market. Furthermore, Rieter is a leader in the field of precision winding machines. With 15 manufacturing locations in ten countries, the company employs a global workforce of some 4 390, about 20% of whom are based in Switzerland. Rieter is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under ticker symbol RIEN.
