With revenues of CHF 245,5 m, the Fineblanking/Forming segment contributed 60.1% of Group sales (previous year: 58.1%), an increase of 1.3%. The systems business was affected by cautious investment activity and sales fell by about 8% compared to 2001-2002. However, the repositioning of Schmid, the second fineblanking press brand, had a positive impact, as sales of Schmid rose by around 40% year-on-year. Feintool's European and Japanese parts manufacturing facilities achieved significant sales growth on the last financial year. The US parts production facilities also increased their sales in local currency. This success is due to the development of business from new customers, mostly with international operations. The signing of new supply contracts will help the US factories in particular to achieve even higher capacity utilization in the medium term.
The Assembly/Automation segment's contribution to consolidated sales totalled CHF 98.1 m (24.0%; previous year: 27.7%), which translates into a decrease of 15.1 percentage points. The systems business was hit by the continuing "wait and see" attitude to investment, especially in the telecoms and mobile phone industries. The division still has a satisfactory list of projects, but customers have been holding back with orders in recent months. With such new developments as "modutec", a modular, highly standardized assembly system which made its public debut at Motek in September, the division is responding to changed customer needs and creating a sound basis for future growth. Despite interesting innovations and a redoubling of marketing efforts, the assembly components business (United Components) was hit by the low level of capital spending by customers in the special-purpose machine construction industry.
The Plastic/Metal Components segment contributed CHF 66.4 m (16.3%; previous year 14.3%) to total Group sales. It was able to significantly improve on its year-back figure thanks to higher call-ups on existing orders (+11.1%). The segment's project list of innovative, complex composite components is extensive and should stimulate further growth over the next few years as well as a number of new start-ups at the Biberist and Nashville plants.
With orders in hand significantly higher than at the beginning of the previous financial year, Feintool is starting 2003-2004 with brighter prospects and a good chance of returning to growth again.
Group sales by segment:
- Fineblanking/Forming: CHF 245.5 (CHF 242.3 m)
- Assembly/Automation: CHF 98.1 (CHF 115.6 m)
- Plastic/Metal Components: CHF 66.4 (CHF 59.8 m)
Consolidated sales CHF 408.2 (CHF 417.4 m)
Detailed information on the Group's results and financial position in 2002-2003 will be presented at the press conference on 25 November 2003.
Based in Lyss, Switzerland, Feintool is a leading technology and systems provider in fineblanking/forming and assembly/automation. It is also a supplier of metal and plastic components.
Feintool operates globally with approximately 1700 employees at the company's own facilities in Switzerland (head office in Lyss), Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States, Japan and China. Around half its employees are located in Switzerland.
For further information, please contact: Reto Welte, CFO
Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 11, Fax +41 (0)32 387 57 81
The media release can be downloaded from the following link:
