"In addition to the trade conflict between the USA and China, declining orders from the European automotive and the mechanical engineering industry in particular resulted in the slump in sales in the 2019/2020 fiscal year," said Karlheinz Wex, Spokesman of the Executive Board of the Plansee Group during the annual press conference in Reutte. Plansee recorded increasing demand from the medical technology and the semiconductor industry.

Overall sales fell by ten percent, from 1.52 billion euros to 1.38 billion euros. Despite this development, the Plansee Group continued to invest heavily: 206 million euros for equipment and infrastructure, and 68 million for research and development. This decision paid off, causing new products to account for 31 percent of sales in the past fiscal year, up from 29 percent. The equity ratio rose from 58 to 61 percent, reaching a peak level.

Reliability during the coronavirus crisis

The coronavirus crisis has presented special challenges for the Plansee Group. From the very start, all measures were directed at protecting employees as best as possible from becoming infected, and maintaining production at all locations around the globe, said Karlheinz Wex. Despite temporary closures of individual plants, the Plansee Group was able to maintain almost all deliveries to its international customers between the months of March and May.

“Our customers count on us being able to supply them. Plansee components and tools ensure that the electricity is on, X-ray machines work, or food and medical products can be packaged in glass without hygiene concerns,” Wex emphasized.

Competitive and resilient during crises

Karlheinz Wex considers the Plansee Group to be well-prepared to cope with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis. “We have to expect the business environment to remain difficult this year. At the same time, we're convinced that the Plansee Group is competitively positioned and, above all, prepared for crises." He added that, in its 99-year history, the company was accustomed to successfully handling the ups and downs of the markets. The key now, more than ever, was to convince customers of Plansee's strengths and seize every business opportunity. With a broad and innovative product range, Plansee was creating value for the customer–such as in the semiconductor industry. The global footprint of the production and logistics network ensured that all customers could be supplied wherever they needed the company's products and tools. Given its highly dedicated and motivated team, Wex feels that the Plansee Group is prepared for times of crises.

The industry portfolio

The Plansee Group considers all holdings of more than 20 percent to be part of the industry portfolio. Over the past year, the portfolio as a whole proved to be robust. The Group companies reported revenue of 2.9 billion euros in the 2019/20 fiscal year. Production sales in Breitenwang/Reutte was 635 million euros.

Worldwide, the Plansee Group had 13,796 employees on the reporting date of 2/29/2020. Austria employed a staff of 2,368 in the past fiscal year.