TRUMPF Achieves Sales Growth of 3.4 Percent
Mechanical engineering company increases sales to €2.81 billion despite tense global economic climate / Return on sales of 10.8 percent / Company acquires software firms to strengthen its digital strategy and expands its additive manufacturing
On June 30, 2016, at the end of the 2015/16 fiscal year, the TRUMPF Group successfully recorded a sales growth of 3.4 percent. The figure amounts to €2.81 billion (previous year: €2.72 billion). At €2.79 billion, incoming orders were below the previous year’s level (€ 2.82 billion).
Consolidated income before taxes amounted to €303 million, a decrease of 15.2 percent (previous year: €357 million). However, in fiscal year 2014/15, the one-off effect from the sale of the company’s medical technology division positively impacted the result by €72 million. Adjusted for this effect, earnings rose by 6.3 percent in 2015/16. The return on sales was an excellent 10.8 percent (previous year: 13.1 percent; adjusted for the sale of medical technology: 10.5 percent).
“We were unable to repeat the strong sales growth of the previous financial year,” summarized Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, Chairwoman of the TRUMPF Managing Board, “but in view of the global economic factors, this result is very satisfactory for an export-oriented company.” In this regard she mentioned the weak economic situation in China and Brazil, the sanctions against Russia, and also the uncertainty caused by the Brexit referendum, which has also affected other countries, for example in Eastern Europe.
Among the reasons for its sales increase, the company mentioned the development of some regional markets in Western Europe and overseas. TRUMPF achieved double-digit sales growth in Spain (+50%). In France too, sales again reached pre-recession levels (+19.6 percent), while in Germany, sales rose by 5.2 percent to €597 million. In China, the economy was slightly less dynamic, so revenues there totaled around €368 million, a decrease of roughly 0.5 percent compared to the previous year. The USA remained similarly stable (+0.3 percent to €370 million).
Leibinger-Kammüller went on to say that over the past year, TRUMPF has driven targeted investments in the future, including the development of new machines, the founding of a venture capital company to support startups, as well as structural expansion of its locations in Germany and abroad. In total, the company invested €138 million (+6.3 percent compared to last year), partially in structural expansion, and also acquired software companies such as Xetics in Stuttgart and C-Labs in the USA to strengthen its digital strategy.
Moreover, TRUMPF is aiming at a significant personnel increase in the area of additive manufacturing. Leibinger-Kammüller mentioned that up to 100 new jobs would be created during the current fiscal year, most of them in Ditzingen, and a further increase of at least 100 more is planned for the coming fiscal year of 2017/18.
Expenditure on research and development was further increased during the fiscal year 2015/16 in a targeted manner, rising by +11.7 percent to €296 million (previous year: €265 million). The development ratio in relation to sales rose to 10.5 percent (previous year: 9.8 percent).
TRUMPF again successfully increased its total number of employees, to 11,181 (previous year: 10,873). In Germany, the TRUMPF Group employed 5,626 employees as of the reporting date (previous year: 5,413). Outside Germany, the number of employees increased to 5,555 (previous year: 5,460). As a result, TRUMPF once again has more employees in Germany than abroad.
For the current fiscal year, the company is aiming for sales growth in the medium single-digit percentage range.
About TRUMPF
The high-technology company TRUMPF offers production solutions in the machine tool, laser and electronics sectors. We are driving digital connectivity in manufacturing industry through consulting, platform and software offers.TRUMPF is the world technological and market leader for machine tools used in flexible sheet metal processing, and also for industrial lasers.
In 2015/16 the company – which has more than 11,000 employees – achieved sales of 2.81 billion euros. With over 70 subsidiaries, the TRUMPF Group is represented in nearly all the countries of Europe, North and South America, and Asia. It has production facilities in Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, the USA, Mexico, China and Japan.
For more information about TRUMPF go to www.trumpf.com.
