TroGroup achieves turnover in excess of € 300 million for the first time
- Successful business year 2022 despite difficult conditions
- Two significant acquisitions: InnoLas Photonics and Consolidated Marking
- Site expansions in China and Wels (Upper Austria) completed
- Iradion becomes third division for laser sources in addition to Trodat (stamps) and Trotec (lasers)
Wels, 22 May 2023. "The past business year has been challenging but successful. We exceeded the € 300 million turnover mark for the first time and achieved € 312 million in difficult economic conditions, whereby currency effects worked in our favour," says TroGroup’s CEO Norbert Schrüfer. "At the same time, we have set the course for further growth and not only made two important acquisitions, but also formed a third division for laser sources."
In the financial year 2022, TroGroup increased its total turnover by 8 % year-on-year to €312 million (FY 2021: € 289 million). Both the stamp division (€ 140 million turnover) and the laser division (€ 161 million) recorded increases in turnover with new record sales. 1,980 employees worked for TroGroup in 44 operating subsidiaries as of 31 December 2022 (FY 2021: 1,963), of which 593 in Austria (FY 2021: 587).
Significant acquisitions in the anniversary year 2022; laser sources become TroGroup’s third pillar
TroGroup made two acquisitions in its anniversary year – Trodat celebrated its 110th anniversary and Trotec its 25th anniversary. With the acquisition of Consolidated Marking in the USA in July, Trodat further expanded its market leadership in the USA and now offers the entire Trodat product portfolio to many new customers in the USA and Canada.
The acquisition of laser source manufacturer InnoLas Photonics in Germany means that a significant step has been taken in TroGroup’s growth strategy. In addition to the two successful companies Trodat in the area of stamp production and Trotec in the area of laser plotters for engraving, cutting and marking, the business area of laser sources is being expanded and is set to become the corporate group’s important third pillar. As of 1/1/2023, the third division is being managed independently under the brand name "Iradion".
Plant expansion in China completed – Walter Just Technical Centre as clear commitment to the Upper Austrian business location
With the completion of the largest construction project in Trodat's history to date, an extension to the Chinese plant in Xiamen, the course was set in 2022 for the continued successful development of the Asian growth market. With an investment of around € 6 million, the existing production area was doubled in size using state-of-the-art technology in resource and environmentally friendly construction.
In autumn 2022, the building, which is named after the company founder, was opened on schedule at the headquarters location in Wels. The Walter Just Technical Centre houses the toolmaking department, the production equipment design department and a new training centre including apprentice workshop. Around € 4 million were invested in the building, which was constructed according to the latest sustainable construction standards and equipped with adiabatic cooling, a green roof and a PV system. The number of apprenticeships has doubled from 15 to 30. "The Walter Just Technical Centre is not just our clear commitment to the Wels location. We also attach great importance to training young skilled workers, because they are tomorrow’s employees. At the new Walter Just Technical Centre, we want to inspire young people to do apprenticeships in mechatronics, plastics moulding, electrical engineering, construction, metal technology, IT and as commercial apprentices," explains Schrüfer.
Forecast: Market environment remains challenging; cyberattack caused turbulent start to 2023 business year
The rather weak economic development worldwide, combined with very high procurement prices and increasing inflation in wage costs are causing the economic environment to remain tense. Cost and inflationary pressures are not expected to ease until 2024 at the earliest. "Additionally, the start of the 2023 financial year was overshadowed by a cyberattack that hit us in February. Attackers encrypted our data in order to extort a ransom. Fortunately, a wide range of IT security measures had been implemented in recent years. This enabled us to quickly switch to emergency operation and reactivate all systems from our own back-ups following forensic analysis. No ransom was paid," says Peter Köstler, TroGroup’s CFO. The reboot took between one and two months, depending on the applications. "The fact that we were able to continue producing and supplying our customers despite the cyberattack has been thanks to a great team effort at all TroGroup locations. We are convinced that with this teamwork, we’ll also succeed in successfully negotiating the current business year in a market environment that continues to be very challenging," adds Schrüfer.
