Annual General Meeting 2014 – CEO’s speech
Summary of the CEO’s speech at ProfilGruppen’s Annual General Meeting 2014.
During his speech at the AGM, ProfilGruppen’s acting President and CEO Kåre Wetterberg gave an account of the market’s development and the challenges of the past year.
Kåre Wetterberg began by commenting on the fact that CEO Anders Frisinger had chosen to leave the company for family reasons on February 1, 2014. Kåre took over as acting CEO from the same date until a replacement is recruited.
The recruitment process is ongoing.
Kåre Wetterberg reported on the market development in 2013, where the market for aluminum extrusions in Europe has decreased by four percent compared to the previous year, while ProfilGruppen’s delivery volume has decreased by two percent. In Sweden, the corresponding figures are a decrease of nine percent for the total market and a decrease of seven percent for ProfilGruppen.
Kåre also reported on activities during the past year, focusing on increasing market presence by:
– Recruiting a number of industry-savvy salespeople and technicians
– Opening a sales office in Stockholm
– Stationing a salesperson in Umeå
– Gathering the resources for Automotive and Export to Åseda
– Utilizing the opportunities that have arisen from the merger between Sapa and Hydro
Sales by segment were presented and a number of examples of new and potential customers were described. The dominant segment in 2013 was transportation, which accounted for 38% of sales and includes passenger cars, trucks, buses and trains, and vehicle accessories.
In 2013, production struggled with uneven utilization and problems with availability in the presses. Measures have been taken, resulting in a gradual improvement in availability. However, delivery precision and quality outcomes have remained at a high level. Change work within the company’s own processing workshops is underway to address the weak profitability.
Finally, Kåre commented on the 2013 outcome for the financial targets, which you can read more about in the annual report.