| Endress+Hauser keeps on growing |
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| Group boosts sales, profit and headcount in 2006 |
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2006 was another outstanding year of growth for Endress+Hauser. The group of companies, headquartered in Reinach, Switzerland, generated 985.2 million euros in net sales, 11.3 percent above the year before. Profit before taxes rose by 20.3 percent to 121.3 million euros. Record investments of 79.4 million euros (plus 26.5 percent) and 453 new jobs reflect this strong growth. At the end of last year, Endress+Hauser employed 7,045 people worldwide. |
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The worldwide boom in the market for process automation continues unabated. Yet last year Endress+Hauser again topped the above average growth rate of 9 percent in the industry and gained new market share. "We were successful in new markets, have won new customers and continued to expand our core business”, said Klaus Endress, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, at the presentation of the business figures in Basel. "Strengthening our global network, both in Sales and in Production, has paid dividends”.
The Group increased its operating profit by 20.3 percent to 122.5 million euros. Thanks to a low effective tax rate, Endress+Hauser's net income in 2006 was 86.4 million euros (plus 23.7 percent). The equity capital ratio leapt 4.5 points to 56.5 percent. The company's cash equivalents are now more than double the bank liabilities. Klaus Endress: "Financial muscle secures our independence and allows us to invest more in our business”. |
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Dynamic growth in Asia, strong growth in Europe |
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Endress+Hauser further expands its presence in growth markets. The photo shows the assembly of flowmeters in Suzhou, China.
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With an increase of 20.0 percent, Endress+Hauser went from strength to strength in the Asia-Pacific region. "Measured in terms of sales, China has become our fourth biggest market - not including indirect exports”, said Klaus Endress. With 10.4 percent, growth in Europe was "remarkably strong”, noted Chief Financial Officer Fernando Fuenzalida. Beside the growing markets in the east - headed by Russia - export nations such as Germany, France and Italy also contributed their share to these results. "Mechanical engineering in Germany, in particular, finds itself really well positioned again”, says Klaus Endress. Domestic demand, he says, also gradually catches up with foreign demand.
Sales in North and South America rose by 6.2 percent, although the divestment of the tank measurement specialists Varec Inc. somewhat distorted the comparison. "Endress+Hauser's sales centers showed two-figure growth. We achieved excellent results in the United States, our second biggest market, outstripped even by Canada”. The African continent also saw a good growth for the group of 5.7 percent.
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Success in growth industries and in booming markets |
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Growth industries such as oil & gas, energy and primaries proved to be the number one boosters for Endress+Hauser last year. The Group works to an ever-increasing degree with machine and plant construction companies and expanded its project business with EPC contractors who engineer, procure and construct turnkey plants. Service offers and automation solutions have also contributed substantially to the company's growth.
The Middle East Support Center in the United Arab Emirates, established last year, also worked with resounding success. Operating from Dubai, experienced staff looks after customers and projects in the Middle East. The new Analysis Support Center in Groß-Umstadt, Germany gives its customers competent support for complex tasks in liquid and gas analysis. Since early 2007 Endress+Hauser now operates in Romania with its own sales center after the Group acquired its previous sales partner.
The growth in orders ensures an extremely high capacity utilization of the production sites. "And we felt the bottlenecks in the primaries market - for instance in stainless steel and electronic components”, says Dieter Schaudel, Member of the Executive Board in charge of Technology, Technique and IT. Expenditure for R&D rose by 6.5 percent to 79.0 million euros - 8.0 percent of sales. Endress+Hauser filed 179 new patent applications last year. "The power of innovation within our group is unbroken”, says Dieter Schaudel. |
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Hundreds of new jobs in the Group |
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The good development of the Group is also reflected in the employment figures. At the end of 2006 Endress+Hauser counted 7,045 employees, 326 more than the year before (plus 4.9 percent). "Even accounting for the divestment of Varec with 127 employees, we have actually created 453 new jobs in the past twelve months”, says Klaus Endress, a growth in headcount of 6.9 percent. "And over 200 new employees have joined us since the beginning of this year”.
148 new jobs were created in the French-German-Swiss region of Basel alone, where Endress+Hauser now employs a total of 3,741 people. But the economic boom makes it increasingly more difficult to find qualified people. Today, there are almost 100 vacancies in the Group. "This is why our commitment to training and advanced training is all the more important”, says Klaus Endress. With school projects and taking part in the annual 'Science Days' at 'Europapark' in Rust, Germany, Endress+Hauser tries to attract young people to engineering and technical occupations.
"As a company, we take our economic, ecological and social responsibility very seriously”, stresses Klaus Endress. The Group took quite a remarkable step in South Africa: to empower the black population (BBBEE - Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment), Endress+Hauser sold one third of its South African sales center to a trust which now holds all the shares in escrow for all employees and for a college in South Africa, funding a year's studies for 60 young people.
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Shareholder family now with its own charter |
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Endress+Hauser faces the challenges of the future as an independent family-owned business - this is the core message of a charter which the Endress shareholder family has given itself last year. "This charter defines the relationship between the members of the ever-growing family and the ever-growing company”, explains Klaus Endress. "It involves the third generation to a greater degree and keeps family matters away from the company”. The family charter, he continues, stands for consistency and continuity. "It gives the Endress+Hauser Group a solid basis for a sound and healthy future development”.
The strategic parameters for future developments have also been redefined in 2006. "Our Strategy 2011+ is the natural and organic continuation of our previous strategy”, says Klaus Endress. It highlights the company's international orientation in terms of sales, service and production and its broad base in the market by focusing on strategically important industries. Services and automation solutions play an important part, so does the development of growth markets. "All these factors secure and strengthen our traditional locations in central Europe”, stresses the head of the Group. |
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Flying start into the new year |
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All the indications for Endress+Hauser are for continued growth: "Unlike in the years before, the strong business development has continued seamlessly in the first quarter”, reports Klaus Endress. The industrial associations, he says, expect a 10 to 11 percent growth, with the effect that the Chief Financial Officer believes the expected 8 percent to be "too cautious”. "Our aim for 2007 is to exceed the general development in the market for process automation”. The Group's equity capital ratio could reach as much as 58 percent. Starting from this powerful position, Endress+Hauser plans investments of 106 million euros. |
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The Endress+Hauser Group |
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Endress+Hauser is a global leader in the provision of measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for industrial process engineering. In 2005 the Group generated 885.5 million euros in turnover and a profit of 69.8 million euros. The family business comprises 75 companies with more than 7,000 associates in 38 countries, managed and coordinated by a holding company in Reinach, Switzerland. Competent employees and partners guarantee sales and quality service worldwide.
Products
With a wide range of sensors, instruments, systems and services, Endress+Hauser covers the areas of level, flow, pressure and temperature measurement as well as liquid analysis and data acquisition. We connect field devices to process control systems and support our customers with automation and logistics solutions. Our products set standards in quality and technology. In 2005, Endress+Hauser spent 8.4 percent of its net sales on research and development, and filed patent applications for 173 developments.
Industries
Customers are primarily from the chemical/petrochemical, pharmaceutical, food, water & wastewater, paper, energy and oil & gas sectors. With support from Endress+Hauser, they optimize their process engineering procedures while taking into consideration environmental protection, safety and economic efficiency.
History
Endress+Hauser was founded in 1953 by Georg H. Endress and Ludwig Hauser. The Endress family has been the sole owner of the company since 1975. In 1995, Klaus Endress took over the management of the Group from his father. For more than 50 years, the company has developed consistently from being a specialist in level measurement to a provider of complete solutions for industrial measuring technology and automation, while continually breaking into new markets.
Contact
Monique Juillerat
Corporate Public Relations Officer
Endress+Hauser AG
Kägenstrasse 2
4153 Reinach BL 1
Switzerland
E-mail: monique.juillerat@holding.endress.com
Phone +41 61 715 77 29
Fax +41 61 715 28 88 |
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