Grundfos Record Sales Continue to Grow
After a record year in 2003, the Grundfos Group has managed to further increase its sales. During the first six months of 2004, the Group's turnover reached DKK 5,956 million — an increase of 12% compared with the same period of 2003.
The level of activity is high throughout the Grundfos Group without real slowdown in any of the major areas. The growth has been strongest in the Far East (45%), Eastern Europe (21%) and the United States (20% in US dollar terms) — the top scorers are Turkey with 72%, the Baltic States with 55% and China with 45%. Sales in the Group's well-developed Western European markets — Germany, the UK, France and Italy — have increased by 6—9%.
The growth is also reflected in the total number of Group employees, which topped 12,500 as of 1 August. Despite a major increase in the production capacity outside Denmark, it has also been necessary to employ more staff in the Danish production department in order to keep up with the rise in demand. Currently, Grundfos employs approximately 5000 staff in Denmark.
The pre-tax profit for the first six months of 2004 increased by 19% to DKK 445 million, which corresponds to 7.5% of turnover. On the basis of the result for the first six months, Group President Jens Jørgen Madsen expects the total DKK revenue for 2004 to at least match the revenue of the record year 2003.
"I have no doubt as far as the actual pump sector is concerned, but the result will depend upon the general political development around the world. The uncertainty mainly relates to the rate of the US dollar and the development of the share markets in general," says Jens Jørgen Madsen.
"During the first six months of 2004, we have taken another huge step towards reaching our two main goals: a pre-tax profit of 10% of turnover in 2005 (in 2003: 9.7%) and a turnover of Euro 2 billion in 2007 (in 2003: Euro 1.5 billion). To achieve these goals, we continue to focus on organic sales growth under an increasingly strong Grundfos brand in addition to strategically selected acquisitions, own trend-setting product development, increased globalisation of production and continued tight cost control through a stream-lining of all processes within the Group," says Jens Jørgen Madsen.
Source: Grundfos Holding A/S
