Mikron Holding AG provided earnings results for the year 2014. In the third quarter of 2014, the group felt the effects of the general reticence on the global capital goods markets strongly in some areas. Capacity utilization in the Automation business segment remains decent overall as the order backlog is still good. However, a lack of new orders in the Machining business segment in recent months has resulted in an unsatisfactory level of capacity utilization at certain sites. Overall, the Group still anticipates a slight rise in sales for the 2014 business year. Given the circumstances, however, EBIT is expected to fall.

In the first nine months of 2014, the group reported order intake of CHF 194.2 million compared to first nine months of 2013 of CHF 186.4 million with sales coming to CHF 177.2 million compared to first nine months of 2013 of CHF 178.3 million. Solid demand for assembly systems, especially in the US, contrasted with a sharp decrease in order intake for large-scale projects of rotary transfer machines. As a result, the available capacity was not sufficiently utilized, particularly at the plant in Agno, Switzerland.