Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Bets on Drones and Service as Dividend Drought Tests Patience
Published on 07/11/2026 at 04:33 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen is steering into uncharted territory, trading its printing heritage for a foothold in drone defence and packaging services — but the transformation is coming at a direct cost to shareholders. Despite booking a net profit of roughly €15 million for the fiscal year, the company will skip any dividend payout at the annual general meeting on July 23, 2026, instead channeling cash into a restructuring that is projected to tip the next financial year into a low double-digit million loss.
The centrepiece of Heidelberg’s strategic pivot is the newly launched joint venture ONBERG Autonomous Systems, formed with US-based Ondas. Heidelberg holds a 49% stake in the venture, which will begin production in Brandenburg an der Havel in 2026 on a 30,000-square-metre site employing 380 staff. The plant will initially build interceptor drones designed to protect critical infrastructure, with Germany and Ukraine targeted as primary markets. A further line of NATO-compatible reconnaissance drones is planned in cooperation with partner Skyeton. For a company whose core business has been printing presses for decades, the move marks a radical departure.
Alongside the drone play, Heidelberg has bolstered its higher-margin service and spare-parts operations by acquiring the global lifecycle business of manroland sheetfed. The deal, completed in early July, adds more than 3,000 new customers and brings roughly 600 employees into the Heidelberg fold. The company has also finalised the integration of cutting-machine specialist POLAR, consolidating production in-house. The broader plan is to reposition Heidelberg as a systems provider for the packaging industry, reducing its reliance on the stagnating commercial printing market.
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The restructuring, however, is expensive. At the company’s Wiesloch-Walldorf headquarters, about 450 jobs are being eliminated, and more than 550 employees have already agreed to severance packages. Production of the high-volume Speedmaster CX 104 is being shifted to China, while capacity for specialty machinery is being expanded in North Macedonia and at the Halle site, where AI-driven software aims to cut waste. A credit line extension through 2030 has been secured to provide financing flexibility, but no dividend is on the horizon.
The market has responded with deep skepticism. Heidelberg shares closed at €1.37 on the day of the announcements, down 1.44% on the session, and are off 32.41% year to date. The stock now trades just 6% above its 52-week low of €1.29, reached in mid-March, and is 45.88% below the 52-week high of €2.54 set in late July 2025. All three key moving averages lie above the current price: the 50- and 100-day both at €1.44, and the 200-day at €1.68 — a gap of 18.33%. The relative strength index of 40.8 points to weak but not oversold momentum, while 30-day annualised volatility of 37% underscores persistent jitteriness in the stock.
Analyst opinion is split. Warburg Research maintains a “Buy” rating with a €1.80 target, betting the transformation will eventually pay off. Other houses remain more cautious given the forecast loss in the coming year. With the AGM just weeks away, Heidelberg’s management will need to convince long-suffering investors that the string of new ventures — from drones to packaging to AI — can generate the returns that the printing business no longer delivers.
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