Record results for the Hoffmann Group

Annual turnover of 912 million euros booked for the first time +++ Consistent growth strategy in Germany and overseas +++ Managing Partner Bert Bleicher: "We will break the billion barrier by 2013"

Munich, 31 January 2012 – The Hoffmann Group, Europe's leading system partner for quality tools, has shown itself to be stronger than ever: in the last financial year, the Munich-based medium-sized company generated turnover of 912 million euros – an increase of 28 % on the previous year and the company's best results in its 93-year history. The firm's dynamic internationalisation process and its constantly growing product portfolio were particularly critical to its success. In addition to this, the Hoffmann Group's unique combination of trading, manufacturing and service competences has proved successful once again.

The tools specialist plans to grow its turnover constantly over the coming years with the aim of breaking the billion-euro barrier by 2013 at the latest. Bert Bleicher, Managing Partner of Hoffmann Holding commented:  "We are currently investing heavily in expanding our international networks, developing of our products and services, and particularly, in enhancing the skills of our employees – a commitment that will also bear fruit in future." The Hoffmann Group is particularly keen to grow its machining and workstations and storage business areas. Both the Hoffmann Group's umbrella brand and its product brands GARANT and HOLEX are expected to gain greater importance in the tools market and consolidate their leading position through continuous investment.

 

Domestic and international growth

The Hoffmann Group furthermore sees a host of opportunities in Asia and Russia, where the company has already recorded three-digit growth rates.

 

In the medium term, approximately 50 per cent (2011: 30 per cent) of annual turnover is expected to be generated overseas. "We are only just beginning to have a presence in the new markets, and there is a huge amount of potential", remarked Bleicher.

The Hoffmann Group is also set to continue developing strongly in Germany, with the firm announcing only last December that it intended to take over its long-standing, Reutlingen-based partner KB Knecht. The Hoffmann Group is also planning a new competence centre for workstations and storage – the 70,000 square-metre site just outside Munich has already been purchased and construction has been scheduled to start in the middle of this year.

 

Trends: Investment in logistics and expansion of online business

The Hoffmann Group is investing more than six million euros in additional warehousing and transportation capacity this year and is further expanding its Nuremberg site, the most modern logistics centre in Europe. A newly developed area covering some 8,000 square metres will be given over to an order picking system for bulk orders in 2012, thus enabling the company to guarantee an ongoing delivery quality of more than 99 per cent. By constantly developing its online business, the Hoffmann Group hopes to further simplify procurement processes not only for specialist trade but also for business-to-consumer transactions. "With the Hoffmann Group's eBusiness activities, we are offering companies and end customers the simplest, safest and most competent procurement portal in the sector. Our goal is to process electronically more than 50 per cent of all items ordered by 2013", declared Bleicher.

 

A partner to rely on whether times are good or bad

As a supplier to a range of well-known companies, from A for Audi to Z for Zeiss, the Hoffmann Group plans to achieve growth of 8 per cent and views 2012 in a positive light: "Of course there are signs of a potential slowdown in overall growth over the course of 2012, but this is not showing up in our own order books", said Bleicher. The fact that the Hoffmann Group is 100 per cent self-financed additionally enables it to position itself as a reliable partner during economically challenging times, as the company previously demonstrated during the global economic crisis.