Solid financial position

Figures at a glance

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR 81 million (previous year: EUR 66.8 million). With an increase of 21.2%, earnings rose disproportionately to sales growth. Earnings before taxes (EBT) increased by 29.4% to EUR 55.5 million compared to the previous year. Although the equity ratio fell slightly to 53.9% (previous year: 55.4%) due to the increase in total assets, it remains at a high level.

Digital transformation

One of the most important topics for the future at Lapp is digital transformation. The company has set up a dedicated team to take care of all aspects of digitalization within the company. Projects are currently underway in all areas of the company, for example to open up new market opportunities with digital technologies, automate processes and optimize the IT landscape.

Innovations for automation

Georg Stawowy, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer

The trend towards networking in industry also means great opportunities for the Lapp Group. "Connection solutions for industrial data communication are the backbone of Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). They were and are a focus of the Lapp Group's innovations," explains Georg Stawowy, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer.

One example is the Etherline Torsion Cat. 7: the first torsion-capable and Profinet-compliant Cat. 7 cable. The high-speed cable for industrial Ethernet can transmit data rates of up to 10 Gbit in the frequency band up to 600 megahertz. This is interesting for applications in machines and robotics where large amounts of data are generated, for example from sensors or high-resolution cameras - an important requirement for Industry 4.0.

With Etherline Access, Lapp has also been offering active network components for Industrial Ethernet systems for the first time since 2017. Lapp decided to take this step because only the combination of an industry-specific switch and industrial cables can guarantee maximum performance in terms of transmission quality and reliability. For this reason, users prefer complete systems from a single source for industrial applications.

The Lapp Group achieved particularly strong growth (+27 percent) with connection solutions for industrial data communication under the Etherline, Unitronic, Hitronic and Epic Data brands. "This success shows that our customers are recognizing our efforts. The Lapp Group will continue to position itself as the preferred partner for the physical level of industrial data communication in the future," emphasizes Georg Stawowy. The finished cable systems under the name Ölflex Connect also achieved above-average growth of 17 percent. The initiative to offer special connection solutions for rail vehicles also continued to be successful; discussions and testing processes with European manufacturers were very promising.

Another important innovation is the Epic MH modular rectangular connector system. This allows users to configure their own connectors and thus combine various functions in one connector. This is made possible by a plug-in frame that can be fitted with plug modules from Lapp as well as modules from the market standard.

Current application examples

The HESS telescope in Namibia was modernized with HITRONIC® fiber optic cables

On a mountain in Namibia, the Hess telescope is searching for burning stars in space. These emit gamma rays that can be detected by blue light for a few billionths of a second. Lapp supplied special twelve-core Hitronic fiber optic cables for the upgrade of the system consisting of five individual telescopes with diameters of 13 to 28 meters, which can also cope with the constant movement of the telescopes, which are constantly being aligned to new regions of the sky. This ensures fast and reliable transmission of the camera data to the computers in the control center at all times.

The Bystronic glass Group manufactures machines and systems for insulating glass production with ÖLFLEX® CONNECT

The Bystronic glass Group manufactures machines and systems for insulating glass production. Insulating glass from Bystronic systems is installed, for example, in the Oscar Niemeyer Tower in Rio, the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, the Shanghai Tower and the world's tallest building - the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. With completely pre-assembled Ölflex Connect energy chains from Lapp, the production process could be significantly accelerated.

The highest wind turbine in the world from Max Bögl Wind feeds green electricity into the grid with Lapp

At the end of December, an energy generation plant went into operation in Gaildorf, Swabia: wind turbines combined with pumped storage technology. With this so-called "water battery", the construction company Max Bögl Wind is setting standards for the energy transition. The Lapp Group is responsible for the cabling of the system. At 246.5 meters high, the tallest of the four wind turbines is also the tallest in the world.

Global employee growth

Dr. Hilmar Döring, Board Member for Human Resources and Organizational Development

The Group also increased its workforce in almost all areas and hired additional employees. The number of employees worldwide grew from 3,440 to around 3,770. This represents an increase of 9.6 percent compared to the previous year. "This large number of new employees must be integrated and constantly developed together with all other employees, because our claim is 'Best People in Business'," explains Dr Hilmar Döring, Board Member for Human Resources and Organizational Development.

Outlook for further growth

The Lapp Group expects further growth in all regions in the 2017/2018 financial year. Among other things, the Group expects further growth in demand for industrial data transmission systems to provide important impetus. Furthermore, the companies SKS Automaatio and SKS Connecto in Finland and Poland were acquired at the turn of the year. With SKS Automaatio and SKS Connecto as leading companies in the fields of automation and cable assembly, the Lapp Group is strengthening its position in these areas, which play a central role in the Lapp Strategy 2020. In addition, the new company Lapp Australia was founded at the beginning of February as a joint venture with the long-standing New Zealand partner ECS. With the new joint venture, Lapp aims to further develop the Australian market. kp