28.06.2019 | Umdasch Group shows 2018 another successful year - in a new and innovative kind of report
- Doka achieves + 6 % - predominantly in Europe and USA
- umdasch The Store Makers continue their growth course in a difficult environment
- Umdasch Group Ventures with new technologies
The jubilee year 2018 provided us with a double reason to celebrate. Firstly, the company celebrated its 150th anniversary throughout the world. And on top of that, the company group grew by 5.2 % to € 1.515 billion. The income before taxes rose to € 128 million, an increase of 9.6 % compared with the previous year.
During the year under review the number of employees rose from 7,856 (2017) to 8,433, corresponding to a 7.3 % increase.
Developments in detail
Growth in the construction sector (+ 3.3 %) provided positive momentum during 2018. Moreover, Doka succeeded in participating disproportionately in this pleasing development. During 2018 the formwork experts grew by 6 % to € 1,263.3 billion. The regions Central Europe and Eastern Europe as well as the United States were responsible for this growth. Business continues to be very robust, not least as a result of the broad geographical distribution, since it was possible to more than compensate for difficult markets like Latin America and Africa.
Production in Amstetten worked to capacity during 2018. On the one hand, we experienced above-average customer demand in important Doka markets. In order to increase the company’s ability to deliver its products still further, both existing and new central warehouses were also stocked correspondingly. Attention was also paid during 2018 to the optimisation of our logistics processes. The fast and flexible availability of formwork for our customers’ construction sites is a central topic in global competition. In addition to our logistics hubs at St. Martin near Amstetten and in Dubai and Chicago, we extended our global logistics network in 2018 to include Apolda (Germany) and Singapore. During the phase of almost full-capacity operation, the flexible working-time account introduced four years ago proved its value in providing coverage for the peak production period. This time can be reduced again successively following the return to normal capacity.
Doka assumes that the company will grow during 2019 as the business climate in Europe – especially in Germany, Austria, the Eastern European markets and the United States – continues to flourish.
For umdasch The Store Makers the starting situation in 2018 was quite different. Here the brick-and-mortar-business is stagnating or in decline, in contrast to the progressive development in the construction sector. The fact that the shopfitters nonetheless achieved growth of almost 2 % during their second year of growth can be regarded as a success. Revenues increased during 2018 by € 4.4 million, to € 252.1 million.
It is particularly gratifying to note that the sales curve of the Division Lifestyle Retail has continued its upwards trend for the third year running. After a number of difficult years it seems that sustainable stability has taken hold here. We were also pleased at a major commission for our young Division Digital Retail: Dänisches Bettenlager has placed an order with umdasch The Store Makers for the introduction of electronic price labelling: up to 400 branches per year are to be converted from 2019. By contrast, the past year was a difficult one for the Division Food Retail. Revenues for this business area were slightly down as a result of reduced demand towards the end of the year and a lack of roll-out projects. The confidence in the business model was demonstrated by the company’s largest single investment during 2018 (€ 14 million) in a new logistics centre in Styria.
We know the situation from families: all particular hopes are invested in the youngest “child”. It stands for the future success to a large extent. This seems to apply, too, to our corporate subsidiary Umdasch Group Ventures, founded in 2017. Even in the second year of its existence it can already look back on a number of important acquisitions and investments. In 2018, for example, Neulandt 3P was established – a mobile factory for precast segments which produces the concrete element where it is needed: directly on the building site. The challenges of Umdasch Group Ventures lie in the organisation’s rapid growth and in the recognition of innovations which are really marketable.
Innovation – both incremental and disruptive – plays an important role in all three companies within the group. Digitalisation continues to progress within the important processes throughout the company, as well as in products and services which support customers in operating their business more productively and efficiently. Please find detailed information and reportages on this subject in our Annual Report.
Sustainability in corporate strategy
2018 was a special year for the entire company group. We celebrated our 150 years’ jubilee and thus the history of a business and the associated story of a family stretching back over four generations. 2018 was therefore a year of corporate culture. The company wanted to take this into account with a new form of reporting from 2018. Based on the international framework of the IIRC (International Integrated Reporting Council), the Annual Report does not only cover the financial key figures. In fact, it represents our intention of taking into account in future the essential aspects of sustainable entrepreneurship from an economic, ecological and societal point of view, transparently and in dialogue with all stakeholders in a fair and balanced manner. The Umdasch Group has made this decision voluntarily and sees its measures, which also work towards the fulfilment of the Global Goals of the United Nations, the so-called SDGs, as its contribution towards a more sustainable and equitable world.
The Umdasch Group AG: an overview
The Umdasch Group AG is a successful international company group which operates through its subsidiary companies Doka and umdasch The Store Makers in about 70 countries and at more than 170 locations. Since 2017 the group’s third subsidiary company, Umdasch Group Ventures, has participated in promising, preferably disruptive innovations in the construction and retail sectors. The family-owned company currently has a workforce of more than 8,400 employees worldwide. It produces revenues of Euro 1.515 billion, making it one of the top players in the Austrian industrial sector. In addition to a strong international expansion policy the company also focuses on constant innovation. 88% of revenues are currently earned abroad.
