The WAGO Group closed the year 2020 with revenues of 950 million Euros, only 0.4% below last year's level of 954 million Euros.
With 950 Million Euros, almost at Last Year's Level
No Change in Revenue Distribution and Number of Employees
New Corona Premium after October
“This result exceeded our expectations. Starting in the fourth quarter, a definite positive trend became evident even with the corona pandemic,” according to Chief Financial Officer Axel Börner. On the country level, Germany and France remain stable in terms of their revenues. Downturns were noted in only a few markets, such as India or Scandinavia. “When we also consider the currency effects, we can be very satisfied with our result see sense that the growth will continue to trend during the first quarter,” projects Axel Börner.
For the suppliers of electrical connection and automation technology, revenue distribution by country market did not change year on year. While Germany,with a revenue share of 27 percent, has traditionally been the most important market for WAGO, the rest of Europe reached 44 percent, while RoW (Rest of World) is at nearly 30 percent. With around 8,500 employees, about 4,000 of which are engaged in Germany, the workforce also remained constant.
70 Million Euros Invested – Primarily in Germany
Even though the WAGO Group is active worldwide and produces at new international locations, the investment concentration unequivocally lies in Germany. In 2020, about 70 percent of the investments of 70 million euros flowed to headquarters in Minden/Westfalen and to the production and logistics center in Sondershausen/Thüringen. The largest project in 2021: The new training center on Hansastraße, to be completed during this year. Conversion of the previous automated assembly facility will cost about 5 million euros, including a new cogeneration plant. “We continue to see promoting youth development as a high priority. With this new building, our students and the technical and commercial trainees have common rooms with modern design,” states Axel Börner. On the reporting date 2020-12-31, 249 trainees and dual-studies students were engaged in Minden and 41 in Sondershausen.
Yet another large investment project has already been set into operation. Around 15 million euros flowed into the new production location in Vadodara, India; their capacity furnishes the necessary growth reserves.
Axel Börner, CFO
Corona Premium Honors Workforce Engagement
“Our all-encompassing measures to contain the pandemics with a strict hygiene concept and mobile work on the management levels have seen positive results up to know, we have mastered the situation very well,” emphasized Axel Börener. “For this, we need to thank the prudent, cautious behavior of our workforce and the great engagement of thee crisis committee. Furthermore, our colleagues in production and logistics have accomplished a great effort.” To express our recognition and gratitude, the company has decided in that in addition to an expected premiums regulated in the 2021 Collective Agreement, a voluntary Corona bonus of 500 euro will be paid to all employees May. The special engagement on the part of the workforce has already been recognized once by a special bonus in October of last year. In all, the total of benefits above the general company pay scale is over 5 million euros.
WAGO views the total economic impact of the pandemic as it affects the material and delivery situation. “Despite a tightening of raw materials and supply channels, thanks to prudent planning we have not noticed any critical effects,” according to Axel Börener.
Product Highlights in Connection and Automation Technology
“In our interconnection area, the WAGO Lever Terminal Blocks can thank their solid reputation on the market for their continued successes,” as Chief Sales Officer Jurgen Schäfer enthuses. “With their open Linux® platform, our products can be easily integrated into modern architectures, such as Docker®. And with their many communication protocols, they are used as data logger for monitoring and analytics in major networks. We our proud to be part of the initiative “Industrial Cloud” from Volkswagen.” This offers and open platform for linking production with the cloud and to standardize the mutual use and exchange of data. Last year, in the interface electronics area, WAGO successfully introduced the Pro 2 Power Supply Unit for control cabinets to the market. Further advancements will also follow here, like in the lever terminal block area, where they find use as, e.g., pluggable connectors, PCB terminal blocks, or rail-mount terminal blocks in control cabinets. “Apart from this, we have new edge controllers and edge computers for automation and Industry 4.0 applications, with lean-managed switches and our I/O System Field for IP67 automation in our program,” announces Jürgen Schäfer.
Forecast from the New CEO, Dr. Heiner Lang
On January 01, 2021, Dr. Heiner Lang replaced Sven Hohorst, who had moved to the Advisory Board of the WAGO Group, as Chief Executive Officer. “WAGO stands for pioneering performance and innovative force: for long-term and sustainable growth, for strong connections – both technological as well as interpersonal. And I am very pleased to take part in shaping the way this company takes, and to go in new directions, while still maintaining the values of a family business,” states the new CEO of the WAGO Management Team. With a view toward the current year, protecting the health of our staff continues to have topmost priority. “Should the current very positive volume of incoming orders continue, we can expect a good conclusion to 2021 however, the overall economic situation is still uncertain,” explains Dr. Heiner Lang.
Dr. Heiner Lang, CEO
