Annual General Meeting 2020 – CEO’s speech
Summary of the CEO’s speech at ProfilGruppen’s Annual General Meeting
ProfilGruppen’s President and CEO Fredrik Zöögling reported on the company’s development in 2019 during his speech at the Annual General Meeting.
Fredrik Zöögling showed that the industry organization EA’s assessment of the market development during the period 2015-2019 is that the market for aluminum profiles in Europe has increased by about eight percent. At the same time, ProfilGruppen’s delivery volumes have increased by around 42 percent. In Sweden, the corresponding figures are an increase of around 5 percent for the total market and an increase of 30 percent for ProfilGruppen.
He explained that the market organization’s geographical focus is Sweden and the Nordic region and selected segments in northern Europe in general. Work is underway to gain new market shares by increasing further processing and thus increasing profitability. At the same time, there has been a downturn in the economy during the year with tougher competition. Fredrik also talked about the fire in the anodizing plant and the introduction of a new business system that temporarily affected the company’s delivery capacity negatively. After these events, work has been done to restore confidence.
Fredrik also informed about the new production facility for aluminum profiles, Tor, which has been built directly adjacent to the company’s existing facilities in Åseda. The plant has been running in and optimizing with customer profiles since the turn of the year.
There were also a few examples of new business in different segments. One area that has increased in recent months is healthcare, due to COVID-19.
Fredrik briefly commented on the 2019 financial results.
The speech commented on the company’s interim report for the first quarter of 2020, which was to some extent affected by the spread of COVID-19 and its consequences. On the positive side, inquiries have increased and new contracts have been signed during the year. The company continues to develop in a positive direction and is making progress every day.
He summarized his speech by saying that the company is clearly on the right track and sees positive signals from several directions:
- Aluminum, durable over time
- Taking new business
- Has capacity and capability
- A great organization that is professional, fast, responsive and personally engaged