Marel, the Iceland-based business that recently acquired Wenger, plans to reduce its headcount by 5% across the global Marel workforce.

The company reported financial results for 2Q 2022 with a new record in orders received of EUR 472 million (2Q21: 371 million) and revenues of EUR 397 million (2Q21: 328 million), with the acquisition of Wenger positively contributing to operational performance with EUR 17 million to orders received and EUR 12 million to revenues. 

“Operational performance is below expectations, resulting in a preliminary EBIT margin of 6.3% in the quarter (2Q21: 11.8%),” the company said. “In light of continued supply chain disruption and inflation at high levels leading to a slower ramp-up of revenues than originally planned, Marel is taking firm actions to improve operational performance towards the year-end 2023 targets.”

The reduction in global staff members is expected to result in an estimated annualized cost saving of EUR 20 million with a one-off cost of around EUR 10 million. “The strong order book and the full benefit of pricing actions will support the gradual ramp up in revenues and improve price/cost coverage and operational performance in the second half of 2022, as stated in the Q1 2022 financial results, the company said.

The company also said that the pipeline remains strongly fueled by pioneering solutions and scale-up in local sales and service coverage globally initiated ahead of the growth curve.