Komptech increases turnover to €111m Styrian environmental specialists enjoy best year in company history – infrastructure projects to enable continued growth Frohnleiten (2 March 2012) – Komptech, the Fronleiten-based specialists in machinery and systems for the treatment of solid waste and biomass, succeeded in posting significant revenue increases for 2011. The growth to more than €111m, with satisfactory profitability, means the highest turnover figure in the history of the company, and an increase of just under 27% compared to the previous year. “Above all it was the broader spread of international business that contributed to the positive performance of the company”, says Komptech CEO Josef Heissenberger substantiating the course of financial year 2011. Just under 40 percent of revenue is now generated outside Europe, and the USA, with just over 20 percent, moved to top spot as regards the largest single market. Appreciable revenues were also generated in Japan, Australia and Iran. “In Europe, we were also successful in significantly increasing market share in regions such as Poland,
Great
Britain
and
Benelux”,
adds
Head
of
Sales
Josef
Imp.
“The Southern European markets are developing more slowly”. The markets offering the greatest potential for the future are in Europe in countries such as Great Britain, Poland and Turkey, as well as North America, parts of South America, and in particular China. Outlining the plans for the next few years, Heissenberger says “In the medium term we are looking to grow 10 to 15 percent annually up to 2016”. Confidence is very high in this regard for 2012 given that the value of the order books on 31.12.2011 was twice that on the same day the previous year. Major operational investment To achieve these ambitious goals, the next few years will see major investment in the expansion of the existing plants in Frohnleiten and Ljutomer (Slovenia) as well as in a new construction project in Germany. “Investment totalling more than €25m is planned by 2015”, says Heissenberger explaining the plans. In addition to the expansion of the headquarters in Frohnleiten, this year will also see a new €12m plant built in Oelde (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). The newer of the two existing plants in Ljutomer, Slovenia, underwent comprehensive expansion just recently and will be opened officially on 2 March 2012. The assembly and commissioning building, and the office and recreational rooms, were expanded by 1,500 and 400 square metres respectively for a total cost of €2.5m. Komptech currently employs 240 people at the two production sites in Ljutomer, and is therefore one of the largest industrial employers in a region otherwise economically underdeveloped. Expansion means potential for 50 additional employees, and a few additional jobs with the expansion of the headquarters. “The future will see the standard range of mobile machines manufactured in Ljutomer. In Frohnleiten, we are concentrating on the rapidly growing and
expertise-intensive fields of project-related stationary technology and mobile chipper technology”, explains Head of Production Heinz Leitner. “Our focus on research and development will be maintained” he says, touching on the R&D budget of about 7%, twice that of competitors. A doubling of the number of machines is feasible once the conversion is complete and following the improvements in logistics for incoming and outgoing transportation within the Frohnleiten-Ljutomer production network. Additional expansion activities for the Slovenian and Frohnleiten plants are also in the pipeline. The company employs a total of 540 people at its sites in Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Great Britain and the US. Further information is available from: Joachim Hirtenfellner KOMPTECH GMBH Marketing & Public Relations [t] +43 3126 / 505-550 [f] +43 3126 / 505-505 [m] +43 664 / 4229214 [e] j.hirtenfellner@komptech.com [w] www.komptech.com