The favourable situation in the European building industry has had a distinct impact on the business figures for Uponor (Vantaa / Finland; www.uponor.com) for 2006. Sales of the company, which is one of the leading European manufacturers of plastics pipe systems, rose by 12.2% compared with the previous year to EUR 1.16 bn. The operating result went up even more, adding 16.8% to reach EUR 144m. The growth was clearly attributable to the European market, which at Uponor is divided into three segments: Central, Nordic and WES (West, East, South). The US market, on the other hand, was very subdued and, particularly towards the end of the year, declined heavily to end up with a very small increase in sales of 1.8% (currency-adjusted: 3.9%) at EUR 183m (2005: EUR 180m). Here, earnings fell back by 36%.

In stark contrast to this are the outstanding figures for central Europe, with its core market of Germany. In fact, Germany accounts for 1,207 of the total global workforce of 4,325, making it the largest internal segment of the Finnish group. Sales jumped by nearly 19% to EUR 345m, of which Germany accounted for EUR 161m. Particularly in the second half of the year, said Uponor, the German market had been the main driver. The operating result also added 43% to reach EUR 49m. This, said the company, was the result of increased volumes at higher prices that more than compensated for the higher raw material costs. It was also aided by the lower costs attributable to previous restructuring measures. In its home Nordic market, sales climbed 13.6% to EUR 378m, earnings by 24.5% to EUR 57m, while in WES, sales rose by 19% to EUR 388m and earnings by 27.3% to EUR 38m.

For 2007, the stockmarket-listed company anticipates further market growth in Europe, but not at the same dynamic rate as in 2006. Nevertheless, said Uponor, the company would at any rate profit from the ongoing substitution processes of using plastic instead of copper pipes. The housing segment for pressure pipes also increased organically again in 2006 by 32%, driven among other things by the high copper prices.

Moving on to the subject of raw materials, the company pointed out that in the last few years it had managed to pass on the price increases to the full, albeit with a certain delay. On principle, Uponor only purchases raw materials that can be provided by more than one supplier. In rare situations where this was not the case, the supplier had to have at least two different production plants for the relevant raw material. This said Uponor, was the best way to safeguard against supply risks.

e-Service:
Uponor results on fourth quarter and full year 2006 as PDF document (42 KB)