NORMA sales grew 1.5% in 2019 amidst a "volatile" market environment thanks to acquisitions and gains made in currency exchanges, the group revealed.
According to preliminary figures, sales reached €1,100.1 million (2018: €1,084.1 million) while in organic terms, sales were down 2%. Sales from the acquisitions of Kimplas and Statek contributed 1.2% to growth and positive currency effects provided a 2.3% boost to sales for the engineered joining tech group.
NORMA noted a weak automotive industry and additional costs from an ERP system implementation in Latin America hitting its performance.
“2019 was a challenging year for NORMA Group," said Dr Michael Schneider, CEO of NORMA Group. "The volatile market environment and the tense geopolitical situation caused our business development to fall short of expectations. We grew in the area of water management, however. This underscores that NORMA Group is in a sustainable and stable position thanks to its diversified portfolio of products and services and its strategic focus on the future markets of water management and electromobility.”
NORMA is far from the first group to outline the current challenges of the automotive market. Bosch Power Tools noted a steep decline in automotive in its 2019 financials, while Würth Group said its sales growth in Germany was hampered by a struggling automotive industry in 2019. The industry has been evolving away from the diesel powered vehicles to electric cars - the UK government imposed a 2040 cut off on sales of "conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans" by 2040.
The unaudited figures put EBITA (adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization of intangible assets) down by 16.4 percent y-o-y to €144.8 million in 2019 (2018: €173.2 million). The adjusted EBITA margin for the 2019 was 13.2% (2018: 16.0%). The main reasons for the decline in earnings and the margin were the lower than planned production and sales figures in the automotive sector and additional costs from the introduction of an ERP system at a site in Latin America.
Bufab recently launched an energy efficient fasteners range, BUFOe, tying into the automotive market's drive for greater energy efficiency.
