Shares in Wincor Nixdorf slipped 6.5% in morning trading after the German ATM vendor posted disappointing third quarter results and warned that business is "declining" during the economic crisis.
Net sales for the "tough" quarter were EUR496 million, down 11% on the same period the previous year, with Ebita falling 31% to EUR35 million. Sales from business with banks fell 10% in Q3 with retailer figures declining 13%.
The company's president and CEO, Eckard Heidlof, says key clientèle are deferring proposed investments, in particular on replacement orders, hitting the hardware business.
"We will have to get used to a shrinking hardware market for the duration of 2009," warns Heidlof.
However, the company says its recent expansion into software and services will help mitigate the damage.
For the first three quarters net sales from hardware business declined year-on-year by seven per cent to EUR956 million. In contrast, software and services recorded an increase of 10% to EUR773 million.
Wincor says it is hard to predict how business will develop for the rest of the year but it expects net sales for fiscal 2008/2009 to be slightly below the level of the previous 12 months while pressure on margins will hit operating profit.
Says Heidlof: "Slower growth at the end of the good first half had already made it clear that we would feel the effects of the global economic crisis."
You can view Wincor Nixdorf share data here.