15.04.2014

WINTERSTEIGER is growing in all business areas

WINTERSTEIGER AG once again showed growth in all business areas and achieved a record turnover with €141.9 mil in the financial year 2013.

 

In comparison to the previous year, the group turnover rose by 12% to €141.9 mil. The EBIT margin also increased with 8.4% (€12 mil.) and the EBITDA margin with 11.6% (€16.5 mil.) and the productivity rose in comparison to 2012 (EBIT 2012: 6.8 % and EBITDA: 10.8 %).

 

Dipl.-Ing. Reiner Thalacker, CEO of WINTERSTEIGER AG, commented in a correspondingly positive manner on the past financial year: "We are very satisfied with our result. We have increased the EBIT by €3.4 mil. compared to the previous year, that is 40%. What is particularly gratifying is that WINTERSTEIGER is growing under its own steam - we generated the good result and did not spare anything."

With a balance sheet total of €119 mil. in the group (€87.5 mil. in the parent company) the equity capital quota is 46.2 % (55.4 % in the parent company). Thalacker on the good equity capital quota: "The solid figures are a good basis for our projects - in this financial year we will invest around €17 million in our production sites in Germany and Austria."

 

Continual research and development are important for the special mechanical engineer. In 2013 €10.9 mil. (R&D quota: 7.7%) was invested in the development of new products. With an export quota of 88.6%, WINTERSTEIGER is active in 130 countries.

 



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Business units at a glance.

Since the restructuring of the company in 2013 the group has been divided into business units (BU). SPORTS, SEEDMECH, WOODTECH and LEVELLING showed turnover growth compared to the financial year 2012. VAP Gruber Automations GmbH, at WINTERSTEIGER since 2012 will be run as the business unit AUTOMATION from 2014.

 

Business Unit SPORTS: for the first time over €50 mil. turnover.

The largest BU SPORTS with turnkey solutions for the ski service and ski hire has exceeded a turnover of €50 mil. for the first time. The new ski service machine line Mercury / Discovery has been marketed very successfully: 71 machines were able to be sold worldwide. In the area of ski hire equipment, around 500 customer orders were handled. Here also a new product line with the focus on flexibility was successfully introduced.
With a growth of 23% BootDoc is gaining in significance with products relating to foot analysis and shoe fitting. The product range was expanded in October 2013 by the additional purchase of Hotronic (heatable shoe insoles, shoe and glove dryers).

 

Business Unit SEEDMECH: third record turnover in a row.

The business area SEEDMECH, which offers field test technology from sowing to harvest, is developing with the worldwide growing market. The growth drivers are the topics of food safety and bioenergy. The markets with the strongest turnover growths were Brazil, China, Australia, New Zealand and the biggest market of all was the USA. The biggest sources of sales were our plot combine harvesters, followed by seeders and laboratory equipment.

 

In the past financial year the development of a new plot combine harvest was pushed forward. This is the biggest development project at WINTERSTEIGER. The plot combine harvester Quantum was developed for a wide field of application and is used to harvest numerous field crops. The start of sales is planned for autumn 2014 and the first deliveries are planned for spring 2015.

 

Business Unit WOODTECH: with "Timber Repair & Cosmetics" as a complete system supplier.

With the TRC system which semi and fully automatically recognises and fills damaged areas such as knots and cracks in the wood, WINTERSTEIGER has advanced to a complete system supplier for the parquet floor manufacturer. In the BU WOODTECH, TRC replaced the machines for precise thin wood cutting as the main growth driver. The trend for rustic wooden floors continues. Markets with turnover growth in the past financial year were Austria, Germany, North America and Russia. The turnover for thin cutting frame saws and thin cutting band saws remained stable.

Business Unit LEVELLING (Kohler Maschinenbau GmbH): 50 year company jubilee with record turnover.

Kohler Maschinenbau GmbH, with the WINTERSTEIGER group since 2011, produces LEVELLING machines for the sheet metal processing industry, and celebrated its 50 year company jubilee with a record turnover. Amongst other things the biggest order in the company history contributed to this: a system with an order volume of over €8 mil. was manufactured for Thyssen-Krupp.

 

The new build in Lahr was started with an investment volume of approx. €14 mil. in July 2013. On a plot of land of around 50,000 m2, the building creates space for future growth with a floor space of 10,000 m². The manufacture is planned for autumn 2014.

 

Capital employee.

In 2013 WINTERSTEIGER employed on average 850 employees, including 500 at the Ried site. In production, a percentage of skilled workers of 90% is an important resource in the company. The group is dealing with the shortage of skilled workers with their own apprentice training. 15 to 20 new apprentices are taken on at the Ried site every year.

 

Perspectives 2014: personnel, buildings and products.

For the financial year 2014, WINTERSTEIGER predicts growth of around 7%. "The markets with the highest growth for us are Brazil, China and Russia. We are planning staff increases in these branches for 2014. Also in the BU Automation (VAP), employees will be taken on to handle the orders", says Thalacker on the plans for the current financial year. At the Ried site the company will invest in a building expansion and a new high performance laser system with palette system and a NC lathe. In terms of products, the new belt and stone grinding machine Omega for ski and snowboards should ensure growth. There are also big expectations for the new plot combine harvester, which was presented at the DLG conference in Soest at the end of January.