The listed Vorarlberg lighting company Zumtobel grew significantly in the first quarter of 2022/23 and expects further growth for the whole year. Increased energy prices have cost the company “several millions” of additional costs, company chief Alfred Felder said in an interview on Tuesday. But higher costs are offset by higher revenues.
“The price of electricity is of great concern to us,” Felder said in an interview with the Austria Press Agency (APA). He points out that a megawatt hour cost 40 euros 18 months ago, but has now peaked to 1000 euros. Even if the price has now fallen to 500 euros, you should assume that the energy costs have increased tenfold. This cannot be compensated by energy-saving measures using modern machines and solar energy, nor by the electricity price at the factory in Serbia that is half as high. After all, Zumtobel is not so dependent on gas – it is only used for process heat.
Difficulty looking for work
Although inflation and high costs have made some customers reluctant, short-time working or production restrictions are not an issue for Zumtobel. “Our problem is that we can’t find enough workers,” says Felder. Due to the high electricity prices, an LED installation would pay for itself more quickly, which would increase the demand for Zumtobel products. “We do expect to have momentum there.” All in all, Zumtobel is “late-cycle”, construction problems would not surface until late 2023 or 2024.
Global sales up
In the first quarter of the one-sided financial year, Zumtobel increased its worldwide turnover by 8.4 percent to 313.7 million euros. Much of this is due to inflation-related price increases, but there is also a volume increase of two to three percent. While sales declined in Austria, there were sometimes significant increases in Germany and Switzerland, as well as other regions of the world. Given the sharp increase in costs, the quarterly profit of EUR 10.9 million was significantly lower than in the same quarter of last year (EUR 13.4 million).
Ukraine uncertainty factor
For the entire financial year, Zumtobel confirms its forecast with a turnover growth of three to six percent, even though there is great uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine. The basic principle is that “Europe will continue to supply sufficient gas, energy prices will level off, the availability of primary products for the production of lamps and components will not deteriorate further and all other current risks remain manageable”.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
