Miba sees continuing surge with 1st quarter sales
July 3, 2012
Following its best ever year in 2011/2012 with full year consolidated sales increasing by 35.6% to €592.6 million, Miba AG of Vorchdorf, Austria, reported that sales in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012/2013 (February 1 to April 30) soared by a further 16% to €160.9 million compared with the same period last year.
“The success of the past business year continued to motivate us in the first quarter, and our volume of orders remains satisfactory,” stated Peter Mitterbauer, Chairman of the Management Board of the Miba Group. “However, we do note a slight drop-off in demand in certain markets,” he added.
Miba Sinter Group accounted for the largest share of consolidated sales at 35%, followed by Miba Bearing Group at 32%. Miba Friction Group contributed approximately 23% to consolidated sales. Just under 8% comes from the New Technologies Group established last year.
The capacity expansion completed last year, and the increased productivity achieved by this, as well as the successful integration of acquisitions from the previous two business years all contributed substantially to the strong earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of €20.2 million (previous year: €13.6 million).
In the first three months of the current business year, Miba invested almost €15 million (previous year: €9.9 million). These investments were dedicated to capacity expansion at the Austrian, Slovakian and North American sites. Substantial investments are also scheduled for the rest of the business year for the site in China. As in the past, Miba financed these investments entirely through cash flow from operations, and thus from Miba’s own capital resources.
Cash flow from operations equaled €15.8 million (previous year: €12.6 million). In order to consolidate and expand its technology leadership on an ongoing basis, Miba will invest more than €30 million in research and development as well as training and continuing education over the current business year.
Miba states that it has added some 500 new employees in the past year bringing the total to just under 4,400 worldwide, almost 2,300 of whom were engaged at the Austrian sites. This build-up of employees took place primarily at the Austrian and Slovakian sites, and was largely necessitated by the capacity expansion in all divisions.
“We are seeing a downturn in some markets, and are cautious with projections” stated Mitterbauer. “Nonetheless, we still expect further growth for the entire business year, although we do not anticipate growth rates to be as high as in the past two years,” he explained.
“Our customers’ ordering pattern is getting increasingly volatile. The short-term nature of our industries is on the rise. However, Miba is proceeding with its international growth strategy despite heightened instability and increasingly complex projections on business development. The strategic focus remains on the USA, China and India, where substantial investments are planned”.
Overview of key Miba figures
Posted by: Paul Whittaker, Editor ipmd.net, [email protected]
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