Bosch Packaging Technology’s sales revenue for the fiscal year increased by €70 million to around €1.18 billion, which corresponds to a nominal growth rate of 6.3 per cent. The results once again place the manufacturer of special-purpose machinery above the industry average of four percent, according to Germany’s VDMA industry association.
Adjusted for currency effects, sales increased by 6.7 per cent. The division’s order intake also reached a record level of €1.23 billion, which is around 11 per cent higher than in 2013.
A further achievement is that the company employed a total of 6 100 associates around the world at the end of 2014. This represents a year-on-year increase of around 7.7 per cent.
‘The results achieved in the first four months of the current fiscal year give us every reason to be optimistic,’ comments Friedbert Klefenz, president of Bosch Packaging Technology. ‘Our proximity to customers and markets has enabled us to obtain a higher volume of orders compared with the previous year. This serves as the basis to reach our defined sales targets.’
The recent acquisition of food packaging systems supplier Osgood Industries and the establishment of a joint venture with Klenzaids, an Indian company specialising in processing, packaging and cleanroom technology for the pharmaceutical industry, is expected to further contribute to growth.
Growth in Europe and North America, major projects in Central America
In 2014, Bosch Packaging Technology made moderate progress in the European market and achieved high double-digit growth in North America. In the free trade zone created by the North American Free Trade Agreement, the company benefitted from substantial orders placed by its customers in the food industry.
Business with manufacturers of pharmaceutical products is also moving forward, with increasing demand for machines for the production, filling and packaging of pharmaceuticals. Sales have also been developing well in Africa and the Middle East, with revenues rising by a percentage in the mid single-digit range.
The company’s Pharma business unit reported a double-digit increase in sales in 2014 to pharmaceutical companies in Central America. There are also further prospects for growth thanks to a major contract. Sales to customers in the food industry in Central and South America were, however, lower than in 2013. This result is mainly due to the depressed economic situation in these regions.
Current and future developments
Progress was unexpectedly weak in the markets of the Asia-Pacific region last year, where Bosch Packaging Technology reported lower sales than in 2013.
The company reports that the outlook for 2015 is positive, partly because it has developed high-quality products to suit local needs. These specific machines are competitive in terms of both costs and functionality when compared with similar machines offered by Asian companies. As a result of the new developments, the volume of new orders in China has picked up in the first quarter of 2015.
Although the growth regions of Asia did not develop as well as expected in 2014, Bosch Packaging Technology still aims to generate one third of its sales in this region by the year 2020. At present, Asia accounts for 23 percent of total sales.
The company also aims to expand its business in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The Bosch division currently has a presence in four countries on the African continent: Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
