Segment Access Solutions DACH

Sales growth, profitability below previous year

Operational performance

AS DACH generated total sales of CHF 851.6 million in 2017/18. Organic sales growth was 2.0% compared to the previous year. The segment reported an EBITDA of CHF 147.4 million, which is 1.4% lower than previous year. The EBITDA margin decreased from 18.7% to 17.3% as an improvement in profitability achieved through higher volumes was not sufficient to offset the major negative effects such as an unfavorable product mix, merger-related IT costs and negative currency effects driven by the strong Euro.

Innovation highlights

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Post-merger integration remains behind schedule in Germany. While the relocation of the production for standard door closers from Germany to Singapore and China was completed as planned, part of the efficiency gains will not materialize before fiscal year 2019/20. This is mainly due to the socially acceptable measures relating to job reductions in Germany agreed to with the social partners, as well as an adjustment of the timeline for some major IT projects.

In the second half-year 2017/18, some major price increases have been announced and executed to compensate for raw material inflation and to improve profitability.

Market development

Organic growth at AS DACH was mainly driven by higher sales in Austria. Switzerland also achieved good growth. Sales in Germany increased slightly compared to the prior-year period, driven by some modest improvement in the second half of 2017/18 but were still impacted by a weak Electronic Access & Data business. This business was below the level of prior year due to project delays in access control with several customers. In addition, a major software upgrade, which was required to upgrade the installed base, was launched only with a delay, but is available now for customers since early 2018/19.

Additionally, not all business opportunities were exploited in Germany, as the organization was more absorbed by the integration than expected.

Door Hardware – especially door closers – as well as Services and Entrance Systems contributed to growth driven by several new projects, like the equipment of a big cruise ship where several product clusters were contributing with their solutions.

Outlook

AS DACH expects accelerated growth in 2018/19 as the Electronic Access & Data business in Germany is expected to pick up and as major investments in the standardization of the IT infrastructure and digitization will enable an improvement in business processes and efficiencies.

Despite delays in the post-merger integration in Germany, AS DACH expects that profitability in 2018/19 will benefit from an improved cost base due to the relocation of the production for standard door closers from Germany to Singapore and China.

The business has started initiatives to improve profitability which includes measures to increase cost efficiency, optimized purchasing and the continuous focus on strategic pricing.

In addition, the segment intends to increase its competitiveness and sales with new and innovative products such as TS 98 XEA, a next generation door closer, which reduces complexity throughout the entire process from planning to installation, which was successfully launched in 2017/18. Another example are innovative half-height sensor barriers Argus (HSB), which are used to manage people flow in areas such as corporate entrances and lobbies. This new product family, which will be launched in 2018/19, combines an attractive design with a modular and configurable architecture. Additionally, it enables simple integration of biometric recognition devices and cost-efficient production.

Third-party sales by segments

Key figures