Wilo Group has once again completed a successful financial year. Sales of around 1.4 billion Euros were significantly higher in 2017 than in the previous year, with the company continuing on its growth trajectory for the eighth consecutive year, with an increase of 7.4 percent.
Sales adjusted for currency effects even grew by 8.5 percent. The consolidated earnings were also record-breaking, with the pump expert achieving an increase of 13.0 percent to 85.9 million Euros. Cash flow was also at an all-time high.
High operating cash flow for Wilo
“With an operating cash flow of 140.4 million Euro, we have exceeded last year’s figure by a full 3 million Euros,” Oliver Hermes, Wilo’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board explained during the company’s annual press conference in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Oliver adds, “We have also once again increased our investment activity again by around 14 percent to approximately 125 million Euros – the highest amount in the company’s history. This puts us in a stable and sustainable position for the future. Besides investing in research and development and the construction of our new headquarters featuring Smart Factory and Future Office, we have also invested heavily in implementing the digital transformation at the product level and in sales processes.”
Driving Digitalization
Wilo presented the Wilo-Stratos MAXO, the world’s first smart-pump, at ISH 2017 in Frankfurt
Wilo presented the Wilo-Stratos MAXO, the world’s first smart pump, at ISH 2017 in Frankfurt. The Dortmund-based pump manufacturer is not only implementing the digital transformation at a product level, but it is also transforming its corporate processes and business models. This was also demonstrated at the strategy summit #godigital2017, where Wilo hosted around 200 decision-makers from a wide range of companies.
“Gearing digitalization strategies to meet market requirements and their implementation will decide whether a company continues to lead the pack,” said Oliver Hermes, adding “Digital products and processes celebrated today, such as in smart factories, will rapidly become hygiene factors. The idea is to develop new sales processes and digital business models based on new technologies in order to move closer to the customer.”
High growth in Smart Urban Areas
Hermes sees great potential for growth in networked urban population centers, also known as ‘smart urban areas, where more than half of the current global population already lives. He is certain that these are the future markets, in which the urban infrastructures and many spheres of life will be connected digitally and considers this scenario to be a completely new form of urban development.
Oliver Hermes said, “Virtually all of the challenges, for which Wilo has developed smart and efficient solutions to increase the quality of life, are concentrated in smart urban areas.”
Highly profitable US acquisitions
As part of its intensified globalization strategy, Wilo Group last year acquired the operational businesses of pump manufacturers, Weil Pump Company, Inc., Scot Pump Company (Scot Pump), and Karak Machine Corporation.
“These acquisitions allowed us to expand our regional presence and accelerate our market development in North America. We were able to supplement the portfolio of products already available from Wilo and also enhance our application expertise,” explained Oliver Hermes, adding “Weil & Scot contributed to Wilo Group’s profitable growth with sales worth 33 million Euros and an EBIT margin of over 28 percent.”
Global and digital success
For the future, we will focus on an intensified globalization, driving the digital transformation"
“Wilo is in an excellent position. For the future, we will focus on an intensified globalization, driving the digital transformation and the early anticipation of new developments,” explained Oliver Hermes, adding “Every day, we work to successfully implement our goals to the benefit of our partners and customers and make Wilo the digital pioneer of the pump industry.”
Oliver Hermes’ appraisal is backed up by the figures for the first three months of the 2018 financial year, in which Wilo Group continued its profitable growth trajectory. “We are confident that we will continue to develop our strong market position this year,” explained Oliver Hermes in Düsseldorf.
Smart pump and high-efficiency pumps deployment
Oliver Hermes stated, “We understand a smart-pump as a new category of pumps, which goes far beyond our high-efficiency pumps or pumps with pump intelligence."
He adds, "Only the combination of the latest sensor technology and innovative control functions (e.g. Dynamic Adapt plus and Multi-Flow Adaptation), bi-directional connectivity (e.g. Bluetooth, integrated analoginputs, binary inputs and outputs, Wilo Net interface), software updates and excellent usability (e.g. thanks to the Setup Guide, the preview principle for predictive navigation and the tried and tested Green Button Technology) make this pump a smart pump.”
