World Grain - April 2019 - 76

SUPPLIER NEWS

Bühler reports solid 2018, positions for future
UZWIL, SWITZERLAND - The Bühler Group reported
that turnover increased 22% in 2018 and that it is well positioned for the future with its Consumer Foods business pillar
along with a new factory in China and its partnership with
Microsoft.
"We are satisfied with the 2018 overall results," said Stefan
Scheiber, chief executive officer of Bühler. "Volumes developed well, but profits were below our objectives. Despite
risks such as trade conflicts, we are well positioned with our
portfolio and our global organization, and look to the future
with confidence."
The 2018 business year was characterized by continued organic growth in all businesses with a gain in market share,
increased order intake, and higher turnover, Bühler said.
EBIT increased in absolute terms by 13% to CHF 231 million ($230 million), which represents an EBIT margin of 7.1%
(previous year: 7.6%).
Net profit grew by 9% and reached CHF 188 million (previous year CHF 173 million).
Results were impacted by adjustments at the Changzhou,
China, site. Without that one-time effect, the EBIT margin
would have been 8%.
Turnover grew for Grains & Food by 9.2% to CHF 2.2 billion, for Advanced Materials by 5.6% to CHF 705 million,
and Haas contributed CHF 373 million.
Order intake increased by 17% to CHF 3.3 billion and its
turnover by 22% to CHF 3.3 billion, which resulted in an order backlog of CHF 1.9 billion ( up 5.9%). Regionally, Europe
(up 28%) and Asia (up 40%) were the markets showing the
strongest turnover growth.
With its new Consumer Foods business following the integration of Haas, Bühler plans to increase its focus on this
market. This was met with "positive momentum" among employees and customers, Bühler said.
"This encouraged us to accelerate the full integration and
new setup of our food businesses," Scheiber said.
Under the leadership of Germar Wacker, Haas achieved
CHF 382 million in order intake and CHF 373 million in
Moser takes over management of SternEnzym
AHRENSBURG, GERMANY - Dr. Matthias Moser has
taken over the management of SternEnzym GmbH & Co. as
part of a personnel restructuring at the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe.
He already has managed the business of the sister companies Hydrosol, OlbrichtArom and HS Additive in the same
position since 2015.
His predecessor at SternEnzym, Lennart Kutschinski, will
concentrate on his activities as managing director of the rapidly expanding companies Mühlenchemie, DeutscheBack
and SternVitamin.
Responsibility for the seven foreign affiliates in the Food
Ingredients division will be shared by the two managers. All
the firms are members of the independent, owner-managed
Stern-Wywiol Gruppe based in Hamburg, Germany.
"This personnel restructuring will create resources for
76

Book 1.indb 76

The CUBIC innovation campus in Uzwil, Switzerland, is nearing completion.
Photo courtesy of Bühler.

turnover. This represents the best result in the history of Haas,
driven mainly by the Wafer and Biscuit business units.
Investments in the asset base rose to CHF 118 million (up
18%), driven by spending on the new CUBIC innovation
campus and application centers, the ongoing modernization
of the Swiss locations, and the ramp-up of sites in China.
The new factory and R&D facility for the feed industry in
Changzhou, China, was opened in 2018 and is in full operation.
The CUBIC innovation campus in Uzwil is nearing completion. The official inauguration of the fully operational campus
is scheduled for spring. The CUBIC combines research and
development with seven renewed application centers, which
will be available to customers for conducting tests and trial
series together with Bühler.
Spending on research and development amounted to CHF
145 million (4.4% of turnover). The Group introduced more
than 20 digital products, achieved sizable initial turnover, and
entered a partnership with Microsoft in April 2018.

increasing the effectiveness of our companies even further,"
said Torsten Wywiol, chief executive officer of the SternWywiol Gruppe. "We are glad to be able to handle the growing responsibility for our expanding business fields with our
own, in-house resources."
In three-and-a-half years, Moser has built Hydrosol up into
a leading international supplier of customized stabilizing systems for the food industry, and he intends to strengthen this
position by making fuller use of the potential of its applications technology.
As an enzyme designer, SternEnzym specializes in developing and producing enzymes to meet the challenges of the food
industry. The solutions are used in the manufacture of baked
foods and sugar confectionery, alcoholic and soft drinks, in
dairy products, and in the sugar, meat and fish industries.
April 2019 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

4/2/2019 9:19:10 AM

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World Grain - April 2019

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