The Manmade Fibers Segment of the Oerlikon Group recorded significantly higher orders and achieved a historical high in sales.
The Segment once again achieved significant quarterly growth in top line, increasing its third-quarter 2018 order intake by 38.3% over the year before to CHF 260 million and recording a historical high in quarterly sales, up 58.6% to CHF 314 million.
The Segment continued to secure orders and sales in the filament equipment market, primarily in China. The magnitude of orders in recent months has resulted in a pipeline with the delivery lead time reaching into 2021. A healthy demand in this market is expected to continue in the upcoming quarters.
In addition to strong growth in sales of filament equipment, a record level of sales was achieved this quarter for texturing equipment. In addition, sales for carpet yarn grew significantly, primarily in the U.S. Joint-venture Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering also secured notable wins in the polymer processing market. For nonwovens, the Segment realized sales for the filtration market in the third quarter, and has recently announced its partnership with Shaoyang Textile Machinery in China to jointly advance the offering and sales in the competitive hygiene market.
The Segment sustained its double-digit EBITDA margin compared to the same period in 2017. The disproportional margin development reflects certain impacts from previously booked lower-margin projects and a one-time impact from the divestment of the tape and monofilament technologies. EBIT for the third quarter stood at CHF 30 million, which is 9.5 % of sales (Q3 2017: CHF 17 million; 8.5 %).
The order intake for January-September 2018 jumped 64.7% year-on-year to CHF 918 million, and sales during the nine months climbed 86.1% to CHF 828 million.
At ITMA Asia+CITME 2018, Oerlikon demonstrated its power as a leading innovator in the digital production of man-made fibers by showcasing a digital yarn factory. Using technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and innovative human machine interface (HMI) solutions, the fully networked Factory 4.0 is autonomously controlled, resulting in cost savings, higher flexibility in the production lines and reduced downtime.