Engel reports 1.25 billion euros of sales in latest financial year

Notwithstanding a few hiccups, Austria-based machinery maker Engel Holding GmbH reported total sales of 1.25 billion euros in 2015-2016, a rise of around 25 per cent.

“Despite the overall slight slowdown in growth and the decline in a few individual markets, Engel is expecting order intake to remain at a high level for the 2016-2017 financial year,” company representatives said in a pre-K show press conference held at its headquarters in Schwertberg, Austria on June 6.

As a result, the company will invest almost 100 million euros in 2016-2017 in the further expansion of facilities and capacities. Construction work on a significant expansion of the company headquarters in Schwertberg has been underway since the summer of last year. In addition, work has begun at Engel’s large-size machine plant in St. Valentin, Austria.

The company also expects two warehouses to be completed by late summer 2016, with work starting on an additional production hall in the autumn.

“In the 2015–2016 financial year, we were able to consolidate our excellent market position in Europe and have expanded our market shares in Asia and America even further,” said Christoph Steger, chief sales officer of Engel Holding.

“The European markets, in particular Germany, are still the motors for innovation,” Steger added. “And even in America and Asia, we are delivering more and more tailor-made solutions for sophisticated applications which include not just the injection molding machine, but also automation, process technology or mold technology.”

Asia is the most important growth market for Engel, although the overall growth in China, the largest market there, continues to slow down. “The trend towards greater quality, the pressure on prices that is also increasing in Asia, and the new challenges facing society are making it necessary to invest in advanced technology and automation in an increasing number of areas, and Engel is benefiting from this trend,” said Stefan Engleder, Engel’s chief technical officer. “For example, electromobility is increasingly coming into focus in Asia.”

Germany remains one of the markets with the highest turnover for the Engel Group, Christoph Steger said, and the sales and service subsidiaries in Nuremberg, Hannover, Hagen and Stuttgart “are showing continued positive development.”

Turning to North America, Engel said all its business units in this continent are benefitting from the machinery modernising and reshoring trends. “In the area of technical moulding, it is above all toy manufacturers that are relocating their production back from Asia,” the company said. “In the packaging market, replacement investments play an important role, because processors can only maintain competitiveness in the mid-term by employing highly efficient injection moulding solutions.” And for the medical sector, Engel said, North America is of great fundamental importance. “On the one hand, it is the largest market worldwide for medical technologies,” the company said. “On the other, the U.S. is the most important motor for innovation in this industry after Europe.”