After seven decades in business, Endress+Hauser is off to a good start. At its annual media conference on April 4, the measurement and automation company reported strong worldwide growth in 2022, which well-positions it to embark on its next 70 years.
To prepare for its 70th anniversary in 2023, Endress+Hauser reports it delivered more sensors than ever last year, and shipped more than 2.9 million instruments worldwide, despite strained procurement and logistics chains. It adds that incoming orders grew 8% faster than sales, though profits before taxes decreased 12% due to increased operating expenses, costly currency hedging and investment losses. Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine clouded the company’s outlook early in 2022. It was also impacted by threatened energy shortages in Europe, high inflation and rising interest rates in many countries, and persistent COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
“Rarely has our business environment been characterized by so many challenges as in 2022,” stated Matthias Altendorf, CEO of Endress+Hauser, during the media event in Basel, Switzerland. “Our business nevertheless developed stably throughout the year.”
Specifically, the company’s net sales increased 16.4% to 3.351 billion euros in 2022. This included organic growth of 11.6%, excluding currency effects, according to Luc Schultheiss, CFO at Endress+Hauser. All geographic regions and industrial divisions contributed to this growth, including process instrumentation and Innovative Sensor Technology (IST).
Infrastructure for innovation
Endress+Hauser also reports it spent 240.5 million euros in new buildings and machinery last year, which was a 24.7% increase compared to 2021. This brought its infrastructure investment over the past five years to more than 1 billion euros. Projects worth around 500 million euros are presently being implemented, including the four largest in Maulburg, Germany, Suzhou, China, Jena, Germany, and Greenwood, Indiana.
“With these investments, we’re laying the groundwork for future growth,” says Altendorf. “Product innovations drive our growth.”
Endress+Hauser reports it spent 242.4 million euros on research and development in 2022, which was roughly 7.2% of sales, and 13.6% more than the previous year. The company applied for 235 patents for the first time at patent offices worldwide, and introduced 43 new products in 2022.
On the sustainability front, Endress+Hauser scored 76 out of 100 points, again occupied a leading position in the 2022 EcoVadis sustainability benchmark, and placed in the top percentile of the comparison group. The company calculated its carbon footprint along the value chain as the basis for the development of a climate strategy. It also recently joined the Science Based Targets initiative with the goal of reducing emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Finally, to mark its birthday, the company is inviting more than 1,000 customers, partners and experts to Basel to discuss the sustainable transformation of the process industry. “For 70 years, we’ve done everything we can to ensure a good future,” adds Altendorf. “And we’ll continue to do so.”
