By managing to grow sales organically by 5.3 per cent, Grundfos has gained significant market share, strengthening their profitability and cash flow in 2017.
With a turnover of DKK 25.6 billion (US$4.23 billion), 2017 was Grundfos’ strongest ever in its history. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) came up to DKK 2.346 billion (US$39 million) – 9.2 per cent of net turnover.
“We are very satisfied with the result,” Mads Nipper, the Group President, said. “We have achieved the highest turnover in company history, our sales growth far exceeded the market trend, and we are well on our way to our 2020 ambition of an EBIT ratio of ten per cent or higher.”
Grundfos’ growth was generally strong around the world, though China in particular contributed with very high growth rates. There, Grundfos further expanded with more sales offices, and succeeded in offering solutions to support China’s plans to reduce its energy consumption significantly.
The European markets, however, including the United Kingdom (U.K.), France, Spain, as well as several Eastern European nations, showed solid growth, with the vital Russian market recovering after declining for a number of years. Additionally, in spite of challenging market conditions, the United States (U.S.) also delivered growth, and market share was also gained in South America, despite difficulties in the Brazilian market. Sales also rose in countries such as Australia, India, Japan, and Korea, where Grundfos is a large-scale supplier to the machine tool industry.
“During the year, we made considerable investments in initiatives aimed at strengthening our competitiveness. We have launched new products and solutions. By investing heavily in our global service business, we have also strengthened our ability to offer innovative and high-quality services to our customers. Our ambition is to offer the best digital customer experience on the market, and this requires considerable investments in a broad range of digital tools and solutions. Furthermore, we are collaborating closely with our customers to understand how we can best create value through digital solutions that further strengthen our core business,” Nipper continued. “We strive to always take a customer-centric approach, where close relations inspire better solutions and services. We are extremely grateful that we enjoy world class customer loyalty, and we are also extremely aware that we must continue to work hard to maintain and earn the loyalty of our customers.”
