01/06/2011

Pressalit A/S emerged from 2010 with a reasonable profit of DKK 27.6 million. The streamlining and divestment of unprofitable activities has put the company back on track after breaking even in 2009.

When Pressalit presented the annual accounts for 2009 last spring, it was with a result that barely featured any black numbers on the bottom line. The financial crisis has left its mark on the two previous years, when, just like the rest of the plumbing industry, Pressalit A/S was hit by the recession. But now, Pressalit can publish its financial statements for 2010 which show that the company is back on track again.

The group’s combined turnover for 2010 was DKK 460.4 million, which is on a par with 2009. Profits before interest and taxes are markedly improved when compared to last year, with an overall surplus of DKK 27.6 million for 2010. A result Executive Vice President Dan Boyter describes as satisfactory:

“Although we are still some distance from the profits we enjoyed in the years before the financial crisis, it is a satisfactory result we can be pleased with. We have managed to generate new growth. We are also getting better at generating money from our core activities, and our employees have worked hard to create a more efficient business. The important thing for us is that we have made our company more profitable by winding up some of the activities that were not healthy enough”, says Dan Boyter.

New factory in Thailand

Among the activities Pressalit closed in 2010 were a factory in southern England and a small production unit in Skejby. Both units belonged to Pressalit Care, which is Pressalit’s business area for kitchen and bathroom solutions for people with disabilities. However, in 2010, Pressalit opened a new production unit in Thailand, which has, since December last year, operated well in the production of toilet seats.

“Asia is a region which we have high expectations of”, explains Dan Boyter. “Therefore, it has been a significant step for us to establish our own production in the area, so that we have a bridgehead to the emerging markets. At the same time, we have also opened a small sales office in Bangkok, and have targeted our efforts on creating a new market platform in the coming years. But we fully expect to achieve further growth and an improved bottom line for the whole Group as early as 2011”, he concludes.

As of the turn of this year, Pressalit A/S employs a total of 386 people, including 305 in Denmark.

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KEY FIGURES FOR PRESSALIT A/S:

Dan Boyter, Executive Vice President, T: 40 10 24 12
Thomas Mandrup, Senior Corporate Communications Manager, T: 20 29 22 83, e-mail: tma@pressalit.com

You can obtain a copy of the 2010 Annual Profile here.