Market position in core business expanded
Plansee Group increased sales
again
Breitenwang/Reutte, 2 July 2015 – Plansee Group
increased consolidated sales in the fiscal year
2014/15, which ended on 28 February 2015, to 1,26
billion euros.
“On an operational level we were able to increase sales
by five percent. While sales prices remained stable, we
achieved new record levels in our sales volumes,” said
Dr. Michael Schwarzkopf, Chairman of the Executive
Board of Plansee Group at the annual press conference
in Reutte, Austria.
More than half of Group sales were achieved in the
three sectors of mechanical engineering, automotive
and consumer electronics. “We were surprised by the
demand from the automotive and aerospace industries
in Europe,” said Schwarzkopf. In Asia, the Plansee
Group gained market shares with products for the consumer electronics industry.
In terms of the regions, sales remained stable compared with the previous year (Europe 49 percent, America 28 percent, and Asia 23 percent).
For the first time, 34 percent of sales were realized with
products that are less than five years old. “This is the
result of our sustainable investments in Research &
Development,” said Schwarzkopf. On a Group-wide
level, more than 60 million euros (five percent of sales)
were invested in innovation projects.
Further expansion in the tool business
The hardmetal division, Ceratizit, recently acquired
German tool manufacturer Klenk with 120 employees.
In the previous year, Ceratizit already had acquired US
tool manufacturer Promax Tools and gained a majority
share in German tool manufacturer Günther Wirth.
Schwarzkopf: “Thus we are strengthening our market
position in the rapidly growing carbide tool market and
increasingly become a full-range supplier for our customers.”
Plansee follows recycling trend
With the recently announced acquisition of the Finnish
company Tikomet Oy the Plansee Group division GTP
strengthened its product portfolio for recycled tungsten
powders. Tikomet, located in Jyväskylä, has 40 employees and is one of the leading producers of zinc reclaimed hardmetal powders.
Both acquisitions underpin the strategy of the Plansee
Group to assume a leading position in the high-tech
materials molybdenum and tungsten, from ore concentrate processing to customer-specific components.
180 million euros invested
During the last fiscal year, the Plansee Group made
investments of 180 million euros. These included acquisitions, new production plants in India and South Korea,
investments in increased production capacities in Austria and Luxemburg and expenditures for product and
process innovations.
Equity capital strengthened
Due to its solid earnings, Plansee was able to further
strengthen its equity capital. “An equity capital of well
over 1,1billion euros enables us to face the challenges
of an economically difficult-to-estimate future with confidence,” Schwarzkopf said.
Industrial portfolio with sales of 2.4 billion euros
Over the past ten years, the Plansee Group has significantly expanded its industrial portfolio. A decade ago all
Group activities generated total sales of 900 million euros; in the last fiscal year this figure increased to 2.4
billion euros. On a worldwide basis, all associated companies employed 11,800 staff; 400 more than the previous year. In Austria, the headcount increased by 100 to
2,300 employees.
Outlook
In the current fiscal year, the Plansee Group expects
the business development to remain stable and generally positive. “Unfortunately we continue to see no truly
dynamic business recovery,” said Schwarzkopf. “That‘s
why we focus on improving internal business processes,
to optimize our global production network and to acquire companies to further strengthen our global market
position.”
About the Plansee Group
With Plansee High Performance Materials, Global
Tungsten & Powders (both 100 percent) as well as
Ceratizit (50 percent) and the investment in Molymet
(20 percent), the Plansee Group, headquartered in
Reutte, Austria, belongs to one of the worldwide leading
powder metallurgical industrial groups that covers the
whole supply chain of the high-tech materials, Molybdenum and Tungsten – from the ore concentrate processing to the production of customer-specific components.
In the 2014/15 fiscal year, the Plansee Group realized
consolidated sales of 1,26 billion euros with 6,253 employees.
The fiscal year ends on the last day of February.