CEO Joachim Rohwedder of the German automation specialist Rohwedder has experienced satisfactory business in fiscal 2001. ”With sales revenues of ?105.2m and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of ?5m, we nearly reached the previous year’s very high level despite poor underlying economic conditions.“ Despite turbulences on all stock markets, the company has succeeded in maintaining its IPO (initial public offering) price of ?15, performing remarkably better than the index, and will pay a 20 cent dividend. This was achieved due to the corporate philosophy of enabling manufacturers to offer their products in better quality, faster and less expensive. ”We see ourselves not just as a supplier but more as a problem solver“, the CEO highlights.
The company will reinforce its position by using capable technologies, larger internationalization and by further acquisitions. In achieving these targets, a facility in Malaysia has intensified Asian activities. In addition, with the acquisition of 60% of a German specialist for solar-cell production lines, the group can get into a top position here. The group will now be divided into three core segments: systems for assembly and microassembly technology, systems for electronic production and systems for solar and vacuum coating technology. Its strategic objective is to become technical market leader in Europe, and to expand the group’s position in North America and Asia. ”Handling and robotics equipment and image processing are complementary technologies and an integral part of our solutions”, the CEO summarizes. Currently, the staff is about 600. The customers are mainly from telecom, automotive, medical and electronics industries. (gbw)
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