The Grenzebach Group remains on course for growth
- Stable business performance due to internationalization and customer focus
- Focus on and expansion of core businesses and future technologies
- Expansion of global and local service and production capacities in response to unstable delivery chains and increasing regionalization
HAMLAR/Germany. For the internationally operating Grenzebach Group, 2023 was an intense but extremely successful business year. In spite of global challenges, the company showed growth and exceeded key results from the previous year.
Key financial indicators for 2023*
The figures presented by Dr. Steven Althaus, CEO of the Grenzebach Group, confirm the Group's positive development in recent years. Grenzebach has successfully taken on new challenges and local market conditions, and also extended its presence in important markets all around the world. The company achieved this by concentrating on its core areas of building materials and glass, and by collaborating more closely with regional Grenzebach organizations in the USA and China. This flexibility and international adaptability enabled the company to pro-actively respond to customer needs, to facilitate transformation plans, to offer innovative solutions and to grow in partnership with customers.
The Grenzebach Group's turnover increased compared with 2022 and amounted to 458 million euros– 27 % above the previous year. Meanwhile, the operating profit (EBIT) also increased to the figure of 38 million euros. The cash flow from day-to-day business activities was also positive. In 2023, Grenzebach recorded a strong level of incoming orders amounting to 494 million euros compared with 2022, which was stronger than average, incoming orders declined by 17 % – in line with expectations. However, this figure was in the projected range. The company continues to show steady growth despite the global crises and challenges of recent years (including rising protectionism, supply chain difficulties, sustainability and staff shortages). Accordingly, the company expects revenue growth in the mid single-digit percentage range for 2024.
“At Grenzebach, we continue to post good growth and show good potential for the coming years. The focus on, strengthening and further development of our core businesses have had a positive impact on our results and will remain cornerstones of our success in the future. Due to our strategic internationalization, we're becoming more agile in responding to change and provide our customers with even better support. The subsequent increased proximity to customers forms the foundation to our success. We believe that we'll continue to be successful in the future by continuously evolving and adapting.”
Focus on strong core markets
The Group continues to see potential in this area through the growth of its global customers. An indicator for this is the high demand for production technologies and solutions for glass and solar glass. As expected, demand fell compared with 2022 and Grenzebach recorded a 19 % reduction in incoming orders compared with the strong previous year. Nevertheless, the global market trend for PV production facilities will increase in the long-term, in particular in the USA and China. The introduction of the new annealing lehrs, a sustainable way to improve energy efficiency and glass quality was a success. Furthermore, the range of products and services for state-of-the-art product lines was extended.
The Group is also on course for growth in the area of building materials, especially as the demand for calcining and gypsum board plants remains high. Following the above-average level of incoming orders in this business area in 2022/23, there was an expected reduction in incoming orders of 26 %. However, this still resulted in a high capacity utilization, which is continuing in 2024. In this business area, future technologies and solutions for decarbonization, energy optimization and energy efficiency, such as low-temperature dryers, are primarily playing a major role. Moreover, there is also a lively demand in the mineral wool area for carbon neutral melting technologies, where Grenzebach offers solutions in the form of electric smelting furnaces and gas cupola furnaces. There is also an emerging increasing global demand with regional differences in the coming years. The company management believes that innovations – particularly the lower-temperature dryers that offer energy savings of up to 30 % – will be disproportionately successful in this growth.
Grenzebach has been strengthening its presence as an intralogistics provider in the field of "customized intralogistics" and system integration for a number of years and built on its position in the area of automotive and data center management all around the world in 2023. Despite a 10 % reduction in incoming orders, Grenzebach remains one of the major providers on the global intralogistics market. The level of orders received in intralogistics picked up right after the turn of the year and rose accordingly.
Meanwhile, in the area of special technologies, Grenzebach has continued to expand and strengthen globally in the fields of casting parts and friction stir welding. Moreover, the company was able to develop its network further in additive manufacturing.
Strengthening of the service business all across the world
Investments in global services and customer proximity have paid off. The service business area, which continues to be increasingly profitable, grew by another 10 % compared with the previous year. The service area's positive development can also be attributed to successful results in the core areas of glass and building materials. Grenzebach views this continued growth as a validation of its strategic direction and proof of the importance of having a close partnership with customers over the entire service life of their systems and technologies. Under the slogan "Grenzebach – lifecycle partner", Steven Althaus thinks that there are significant development opportunities: "At Grenzebach, we see ourselves as a reliable journey partner for our customers. We're seeing an increase in service business because reliability, expertise and ongoing dialog are of the utmost importance to our customers."
At home around the world, sustainable technologies, and future investments
The Grenzebach Group increased it investments during the 2023 business year and spent 13 million euros on research, development, and global infrastructures.
The current business performance and the positive figures underline the solid foundation and the existing potential of the Grenzebach Group. The company responded promptly and pro-actively to customer requirements and strengthened its position on the global market by simultaneously catering to three different regional market trends. For example, in the USA, the demand for automation solutions is growing strongly, coinciding with the significantly expanding market. In Europe, a saturated market is emerging, with a focus on energy efficiency. In contrast, there is continuous growth in the Asian market and a need for localization. It is vital to adapt products and services to the specific local conditions and challenges in order to strengthen the positioning and to develop an even closer relationship with customers all around the world.
Althaus continues: "The global demand for our technologies and services is constantly growing and one of our core values is to respond to demand with precision and innovation. Our strong, international presence enables us to quickly and effectively respond to challenges locally. This is a fundamental component of our philosophy and our commitment to excellent customer relationships."
Grenzebach is systematically pursuing its strategy and is focusing on regionalization and strengthening local markets as centers of production and sales. In early 2024, a new location with a production capacity of 4,500 sqm was opened in Pune, India. This step was a crucial milestone in further consolidating the Group's position as a reliable partner for customers in the Eastern Hemisphere's glass and building materials industry. This location was already profitable in its first year. Meanwhile, the Romanian manufacturing facility in Iaşi, along with its manufacturing capacities, are currently being doubled. Likewise, the Grenzebach locations in North America are also set to be expanded in order to cover the growing market needs and to expand the market development.
As a family-owned business, the Grenzebach Group is perfectly positioned to continue to successfully meet the challenges of global competition. Its commitment to excellence and innovation, as well as its flexibility in adapting to changing market requirements make Grenzebach a robust player on the international stage.
Additional information
*The financial indicators mentioned are provisional. The attestation and adoption of the consolidated financial statements are pending.
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