Würth Group closes first half of 2018 with sales of EUR 6.8 billion

The Würth Group continues its winning streak: The global market leader in the trade with fastening and assembly materials expands sales by 6.5 percent. Adjusted for exchange rates, sales growth even stands at 9.0 percent. The operating result increases to EUR 400 million.

Künzelsau. In the first six months of 2018, the Würth Group reported sales of EUR 6.8 billion. This corresponds to an increase of 6.5 percent. Adjusted for foreign currency effects, growth comes to 9.0 percent. The companies in Germany achieved sales growth of 7.9 percent and total sales of EUR 2.9 billion, while sales growth abroad amounted to 5.4 percent. The Würth Group’s companies in Eastern and Southern Europe are still developing very well, reporting sales growth rates in the double digits. “We still expect that we will be able to report sales and operating result records again in 2018, even if the ifo Business Climate Index has dropped slightly in June and economic forecasts are only cautiously optimistic,” Robert Friedmann, Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, states on the company’s positive outlook for the second half of the year.

Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, the Würth Group’s parent company, reported a new monthly sales record of more than EUR 150 million in June. In the first six months of 2018, the largest single company of the Würth Group generated sales of EUR 811 million.

Operating result
The Würth Group’s operating result improved by 19.4 percent to EUR 400 million in the first half of the year. “We are satisfied with this above-average increase in profits,” Robert Friedmann explains.

Investments in logistics
In June, Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG celebrated the groundbreaking for its new freight hub in the Gewerbepark Hohenlohe industrial area directly next to the A 6 highway – an investment in the company’s continued growth. The objective is to avoid split deliveries and consolidate individual order items to make sure customers receive only one shipment in the future. Apart from the high quality of its products, Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG will continue to develop its range of services to expand the partnership with its customers even further. Around EUR 73 million will be invested in the new European transport hub that will be erected on a surface area of around 50,000 m² – 20 percent of all orders handled there will be shipped directly to other European countries

Two years after opening its highly modern logistics center and sample factory, Würth Elektronik eiSos is investing another EUR 25 million in its site in Waldenburg. The company’s existing storage, picking and logistics spaces will be doubled with the construction of 4,000 m² of logistics area and a 1,300 m² fully automated shuttle warehouse. This latest addition underlines the ambitious service claim of Würth Elektronik eiSos that customers all over the world will receive their samples and even large quantities of electronic and electromechanical components within 24 to 48 hours.

Electrical wholesale unit expands further
In Italy, the Würth Electrical Wholesale Group (W.EG) has expanded its footprint by entering into a strategic partnership (controlling interest) with MEB s.r.l., one of the leading electrical wholesalers in Northern Italy, located in Schio, Veneto. The company currently employs 250 people in 24 branches. The product range includes mostly lighting, building automation systems, low voltage distribution and control equipment, renewable energy systems, as well as cables and industrial automation systems. The transaction is subject to the approval of the anti-trust authorities.

Employees
The number of employees increased by 1,975, from 74,159 at the end of 2017 to 76,134 in the first half of 2018. In Germany, the number of employees amounts to 23,305, an increase by 4.9 percent on the previous year. The Group currently has 32,898 sales force employees on the payroll.

About the Würth Group
The Würth Group is the world's market leader in its core business, the trade in assembly and fastening materials. It currently consists of more than 400 companies in over 80 countries with more than 76,000 employees on its payroll. Approximately 32,000 of those employees are salaried sales representatives.

In the Group's core business, the Würth Line, the sales program for the trades and industry comprises more than 125,000 products: from screws, screw accessories and anchors to tools, technical chemicals and personal protective equipment.

The Allied Companies of the Würth Group, which either operate in business areas related to its core business or in diversified business areas, round off the range by offering products for DIY stores, material for electrical installations, electronic components such as circuit boards, and financial services. They account for more than 40 percent of the Würth Group’s sales volume.

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