As have many other Danish companies, Pressalit Group A/S has felt the impact of the global recession, which is reflected in the company’s annual accounts for 2009. The slowdown in the building and construction sector led to a considerable falloff in sales, and this left its mark on the year as a whole. Nevertheless, Pressalit Group was able to navigate 2009’s choppy waters quite well, and reductions in staffing levels, tight financial control and the reduction of stocks had a positive impact on the annual accounts, even if profit was the lowest for many years.
A difficult process
Annual sales expectations were reduced by 14 percent as long ago as March 2009, and these expectations held. Pressalit Group’s sales in 2009 ended up at DKK 460.3 million, which was DKK 77 million less than in 2008. Moreover, during the year, the company was forced to bid farewell to more employees as a result of the decline in orders received. At the end of 2009, Pressalit Group had a total of 382 employees, which was 68 less than the year before.
“Having to trim down the company to meet the changed market conditions has been a difficult but necessary process. But luckily we were able to react quickly so that 40 percent of the reduction came from natural wastage. On the other hand, we can now rest assured that we have a healthy company, as even though our earnings have been under pressure, our other key ratio such as our equity ratio, productivity and cash flow improved in 2009,” says Dan Boyter, Vice President & COO of Pressalit Group
International view
It is clear from the company’s annual profile, which is published at the same time as the annual accounts, that the international activities have been one of the crucial pivots of the year. The management has visited distributors around the world, and the company has been strongly represented at many international trade fairs. Moreover, 2009 was the first year in the history of the company to see the establishment of a factory in the Far East. The new production setup, which is to replace the existing one at Ry, will be located in Thailand, and is intended to act as a bridgehead to the Far Eastern markets.
Generational change complete
At the beginning of 2010, there was a generational change in the ownership of Pressalit Group A/S, in that Fay Boyter, the widow of the previous director, Mogens Boyter, sold most of her shares to Kim and Dan Boyter, who make up the current management of the company. Fay Boyter now only has a 10 percent holding of B-class shares in Pressalit Group, while Kim Boyter and Dan Boyter each own 45 percent of the shares. At the same time, Fay Boyter retired from the board of directors of the company.
Read the Annual Profile 2009 as an E-paper here