From European Plastics News: Posted 30 October 2009 9:50 am GMT
Switzerland-based composite developer Gurit says group sales decreased 24% over the first nine months of the year to CHF245m.
Sales from the Gurit’s marine sector were most badly affected, falling 41.9% to CHF32.7m. Spokesperson Bernhard Schweizer says this is because marine is a high end sector.
“Marine is a market related to luxury goods, and high net worth individuals are not commissioning new boats at the moment,” he told European Plastics News. “Also, many sports boats rely on corporate sponsorship, which has fallen during the recession.”
However, the marine business may have hit rock bottom, as it “shows first signs of stabilisation at a low level with Q3 2009 sales in line Q2 2009”, says the firm.
Sales from the transportation business fell 15.3% while wind energy sales were down 12.5%. Gurit says sales from the Wind Energy sector will be markedly lower this year-end than in 2008.
However, the company’s 2009 operational EBIT margin target is around 5%, largely thanks to cost reduction plans. Schweizer says Gurit has cut around 400 jobs this year and is focusing on profitable markets such as Asia.
Last month the firm successfully closed the acquisition of a stake in Chinese structural foam company China Techno Foam. It also has a foam plant in Tianjin in the country.
