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“Joe Biden wants to invest $ 1.9 billion in infrastructure. An incredible number! Spuhler said in the interview posted online Friday night. According to Spuhler, new orders are also needed, despite an order backlog of 16 to 17 billion Swiss francs. “The order book looks bigger than it is,” said Stadler Rail’s president and CEO.
A quarter is maintenance and service. Some of these contracts had a duration of 30 years. Also, in the industry, from the moment an order is signed, it certainly takes one to a year and a half to start production. “If we had less than two annual sales in the order book, it would be very critical,” says Spuhler. “One or another larger order has to come in this year so that we can also have good capacity utilization in 2024 and 2025.”
“The next shot has to be the right one”
In addition, Spuhler commented on succession planning: almost a year ago he took over as boss again and parted ways with Thomas Ahlburg, whom he had appointed as his successor in 2018. “My successor as CEO was unable to provide the track record we expected. of him, “Spuhler said.
So now you want to take your time. Now it is not decisive whether he will do it for another year or not, he said. “The next shot has to be the right one.” His goal is to be able to deliver the company debt-free again, with a record order book and an EBIT margin of 8 percent.
“Better to conclude than to communicate”
In the current financial year, the company expects an EBIT margin of more than 6 percent. Stadler was relatively affected by the pandemic. In this context, like many industrial companies, a rather defensive forecast was made. “The objective is, without a doubt, to finish better than was communicated.”
Spuhler was pretty covered in regards to his stake in the Aryzta baked goods group. The FuW reported in mid-March that Spuhler should have acquired a nearly 3 percent stake. “I just bought some shares privately,” he said now. “This should not result in a major commitment.” (pbe / SDA)
Published: 03/26/2021, 7:54 pm
