Miele Group: results in 2018/19 business year and investments

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The new Miele Experience Center in Amsterdam.

In the 2018/19 financial year which ended on June 30, 2019, the Miele Group achieved sales of € 4.16 billion. This corresponds to a growth in sales of 1.5%. Excluding trade through Miele’s Korean subsidiary Yujin Robot, incorporated for the first time in company accounts, group turnover would have been 0.2% higher than in the previous year. In order to pursuit the goals for the next future, Miele will turn its attention for example to opening new business fields and developing its internal position in R&D, production, marketing and administration to meet future needs. Considerable additional investments have been earmarked for these and other purposes. The first steps moving forward include an expansion of the Smart Home business unit and the activities of Miele Venture Capital GmbH, which takes out stakes in promising startups.
Miele generated € 1.2 billion of turnover in Germany: this equates to a drop of 0.3%. “Outside Germany – the company said -, business in the US, Austria, Switzerland, Japan and Korea continued to demonstrate strong growth. In countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain – after in part a longer torrid spell as a result of the financial crisis – robust vitality is once again visible. In eastern Europe, too, Miele has gained considerable ground almost across the board. Noticeable decline was recorded in China, where state restrictions have made the trade in real estate more difficult. In Hong Kong, political unease has had a detrimental effect on business, whilst Turkey continues to be plagued by a drop in the value of the Turkish lira”. Besides, in the Professional business unit, the Miele Group, including its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco, recorded sales of € 621 million, up 5.2% compared with the previous year.
During the past business year, Miele invested to the tune of € 256 million, amounting to the second-highest annual value to date. Of this, around € 180 million went into the development of new products and in expanding, refitting and modernising the international production network of the Miele Group, thereof 60% in Germany. Outstanding projects included the development and market launch of Generation 7000 products (dishwashers and kitchen appliances) and the Triflex HX1 rechargeable handstick as well as setting up the plant in Ksawerów. At the headquarters in Gütersloh, funding went above all into new and in part additional production facilities at the washing machine production plant. At the same time, marketing structures were further expanded throughout the world. During the reporting period, new flagship stores (Miele Experience Centers), for example in Amsterdam, Bilbao, Gdansk, Kiev and Toronto, were added. Another pointer was the inauguration of a sales subsidiary in Brazil. Miele’s sales subsidiary in Thailand was officially opened last autumn. Including Germany, Miele is hence now represented with its own subsidiary in 50 countries.