With its two brands, AXOR and hansgrohe, the company generated a total of EUR 1.029 billion in sales compared to EUR 964 million in the previous year. This growth, which is exclusively organic, corresponds to an increase of 6.7 % (currency adjusted: 8.5 %)over the 2015 financial year. EBITDA rose even more sharply by 10.3 % to EUR 206.1 million (EUR 186.8 million in 2015), also hitting an all-time high.
"The company’s nearly 4,800 highly motivated and tremendously dedicated employees around the world have once again proven thatthe Hansgrohe Group is an industry leader. In the 2016 financial year, we succeeded in growing extremely profitably and faster than the market in all sales regions. This demonstrates the trust our clients and customers place in our promise to deliver quality,innovation and design." said Thorsten Klapproth.
Successful at Home and Worldwide
The domestic market was particularly dynamic with an increase of 8.8%. Germany, still the most important single market,contributed substantially to the company’s positive overall performance. The Hansgrohe Group generated nearly 80% of its revenue outside Germany in 2016, supplying products to more than 140 countries. In the past financial year, the global player continued to successfully pursue its profitable strategy of focussing on regions in Europe with very strong performance, as well as large growth regions around the world. In 2016, about 60% of the company’s overall sales were generated in Europe and 40% in the rest of theworld. Sales growth in China was particularly strong. The 14.3% increase in sales was considerably higher than growth in the marketsector and the country’s economy. A boom in the construction of 3-star and 4-star-hotels, as well as a growing middle class means that the project business in the Far East offers enormous opportunities for the AXOR and hansgrohe brands.
Investing in the Future
"The future needs a past," Thorsten Klapproth emphasises. "We need deep roots to succeed internationally. In the long term,strategic investments in our German sites amounting to EUR 42.9 million will secure our competitive edge on the global market." The EUR 48.7 million invested during the 2016 financial year was financed entirely from cash flow. The Hansgrohe Group invested someEUR 30 million to expand its global logistics centre at the Offenburg site. Significantly higher capacities and the latest in digital technologies enable the company to respond faster and better to the most diverse customer needs worldwide and to strengthen international sales in the long term. Another EUR 1.7 million were invested in the Technikum to consolidate the company’s expertise in plastics at its Offenburg site; the new plastics technology centre was inaugurated in January 2016. By investing EUR 4.6 million in a new research and development laboratory at its headquarters in Schiltach, the Hansgrohe Group established a solid foundation for future innovation.
Employees – a Key to Success
A key element in the sustained and successful growth rate of the Hansgrohe Group is its staff. Around the world, 4,785 people workfor the mixer and shower specialist from the Black Forest, of which roughly 60% are employed in Germany. With 43 new trainees in 2016, the number of trainees within the workforce remained at a substantial 6.3%.
Ambitious Goals
"With a profitable growth of 6.7 percent, we achieved a record turnover of EUR 1.029 billion and at the same time, paved the way forcontinued success," says Thorsten Klapproth. "In future, the AXOR and hansgrohe brands will be present in their respective luxuryand premium market segments with very clearly defined profiles. Our bathroom and kitchen products were among the most innovative. This is also true when it comes to design: in 2016 we not only left famous brands and manufacturers such as Apple and Daimler in the iF Company Ranking behind us, but also remained the only company in the sanitary industry with a Top Six position.Therefore we want to be the number one choice of trade partners as well as consumers."