MPM
Injection moulding sags / More Demag jobs go / Reaction technology expands / Sale of Billion?
Extrusion and reaction moulding activities of Germany´s mannesman plastics machinery (MPM, Munich; www.mpm-group.com) are performing well, but injection moulding – the holding´s largest segment – is sagging. This was the message from chairman Pepyn Dinandt at the “Fakuma” trade fair in Friedrichshafen / Germany. Preliminary figures for fiscal 2005 (30 September) show group turnover almost flat at EUR 1.25 bn (EUR 1.26 bn), with EBITDA also flat. New order intake, worth EUR 1.25 bn (EUR 1.27m), was down slightly. For fiscal 2006, Dinandt expects little improvement, due especially to higher prices for steel and oil.
The injection moulding segment saw sales fall 5% to EUR 885m up to the end of September, reflecting a slump in demand for optical disc machines and systems. Subsidiary Demag Plastics Group (Schwaig / Germany; www.dpg.com) is facing structural problems, and MPM is “not satisfied” with its performance, Dinandt said. An additional 100 jobs are to be lost there – mostly on the administrative side – on top of the 130 slashed earlier this year.
In particular the introduction of flow production at Wiehe / Germany (for machines up to 1,250 kN and at Schwaig up to 4,200 kN) is expected to yield greater productivity at Demag, without adding manufacturing staff, new chairman Klaus F. Erkes said at Fakuma. The goal is to halve throughput time per machine by 2008.
The reaction technology division of MPM group company Krauss-Maffei (KM, Munich / Germany; www.krauss-maffei.de) took off like a rocket in fiscal 2005, with sales up more than 30% to EUR 95m. The unit is set to become a fully fledged systems supplier, offering customers a complete range of processing machinery, tooling and services from a single source, according to chairman Josef Märtl.
In December, the Munich company, which last saw record sales of EUR 550m (EUR 538m), will start up a plant at Viersen / Germany, specialising in pressing, punching and flexible machining techniques. In late October, a competence centre for foam moulds was due to open at Harderberg, near Osnabrück / Germany. Each centre is expected to eventually employ around 120. The MPM holding has hinted that it is in talks about taking a stake in an eastern European company.
During the current fiscal year, Dinandt said MPM wants to “expand or fill gaps in its product and service spectrum.” In the medium term, only brands that “achieve appropriate sales,” which he pegged at EUR 200m, will have a place in the portfolio. This would make the smallest MPM unit, French machinery manufacturer Billion, the “odd one out.” Divestment of the company whose sales “declined slightly” to EUR 39m in 2005 is not being ruled out, a spokesman for MPM told PIE. Extrusion machinery manufacturer Berstorff with preliminary sales figures of EUR 126m in the fiscal year just ended, would appear to have better chances.
The injection moulding segment saw sales fall 5% to EUR 885m up to the end of September, reflecting a slump in demand for optical disc machines and systems. Subsidiary Demag Plastics Group (Schwaig / Germany; www.dpg.com) is facing structural problems, and MPM is “not satisfied” with its performance, Dinandt said. An additional 100 jobs are to be lost there – mostly on the administrative side – on top of the 130 slashed earlier this year.
In particular the introduction of flow production at Wiehe / Germany (for machines up to 1,250 kN and at Schwaig up to 4,200 kN) is expected to yield greater productivity at Demag, without adding manufacturing staff, new chairman Klaus F. Erkes said at Fakuma. The goal is to halve throughput time per machine by 2008.
The reaction technology division of MPM group company Krauss-Maffei (KM, Munich / Germany; www.krauss-maffei.de) took off like a rocket in fiscal 2005, with sales up more than 30% to EUR 95m. The unit is set to become a fully fledged systems supplier, offering customers a complete range of processing machinery, tooling and services from a single source, according to chairman Josef Märtl.
In December, the Munich company, which last saw record sales of EUR 550m (EUR 538m), will start up a plant at Viersen / Germany, specialising in pressing, punching and flexible machining techniques. In late October, a competence centre for foam moulds was due to open at Harderberg, near Osnabrück / Germany. Each centre is expected to eventually employ around 120. The MPM holding has hinted that it is in talks about taking a stake in an eastern European company.
During the current fiscal year, Dinandt said MPM wants to “expand or fill gaps in its product and service spectrum.” In the medium term, only brands that “achieve appropriate sales,” which he pegged at EUR 200m, will have a place in the portfolio. This would make the smallest MPM unit, French machinery manufacturer Billion, the “odd one out.” Divestment of the company whose sales “declined slightly” to EUR 39m in 2005 is not being ruled out, a spokesman for MPM told PIE. Extrusion machinery manufacturer Berstorff with preliminary sales figures of EUR 126m in the fiscal year just ended, would appear to have better chances.
03.11.2005 Plasteurope.com [203921]
Published on 03.11.2005