The Trumpf group closed the 2007/2008 fiscal year with record figures.
The technology company recorded an 11 per cent rise in sales to €2.14bn. At the same time, income before taxes increased to €301m. The net operating margin reached 14.1 per cent.
As part of the overall growth, Trumpf created 697 new jobs of which 291 are in Germany. On 30 June 2008, the company employed about 8,000 people worldwide.
For the fourth consecutive year, Trumpf Group president Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller announced a double-digit sales increase. 'We were able to grow significantly in all regions of the world,' she said during the annual press conference. In Western Europe, the company recorded a rise in sales of 13 per cent, and in Eastern Europe of 22 per cent. In spite of the subprime crisis, customers in America invested as well. Due to the weak dollar, growth on the American market accounted for two per cent on a Euro basis, which transfers to 15 per cent growth in US dollars. 'We made substantial investments in the USA and Mexico over the past years and expanded sales and production. Thus, we are even closer to our customers. At the moment, we are doing the same in China, India and also in Japan.'
Only recently, Trumpf has become the first German machine tool manufacturer with a production facility in Japan. Trumpf increased its sales in the Asian Pacific region by eight per cent overall.
According to its own data, all business divisions contributed to the growth in sales. With 64 per cent, products based on laser technology accounted for the largest portion of corporate sales.
For the current year, Leibinger-Kammüller anticipates a restrained course. In addition to the difficult global economic conditions in response to the financial crisis, the mechanical engineering sector currently experiences the end of an unexpectedly long growth phase. 'We want to achieve the sales of the past year even under these challenging conditions,' said Leibinger-Kammüller.
