To our shareholders
Jungheinrich looks back on a successful fiscal 2010, marked by consolidation and budding growth. The company has largely overcome the consequences of the 2009 recession and rapidly returned to generating profitable growth, nearly regaining the strength it had previously.
Structural measures, savings and efficiency programs initiated in 2009—the year of the crisis—started showing positive effects as early as the first quarter of 2010. Our company boosted earnings to jump back into profitable territory. The earnings surge accelerated in the second quarter of 2010. This upward trend continued in the wake of the expanding economy, displaying differing momentum from one region to the next and resulting in strong increases in incoming orders and net sales for Jungheinrich. Following the loss experienced in the preceding year, this is reflected in a respectable result as well as in the other key financials for 2010. A contributing factor besides the encouraging development of incoming orders and the commensurate rise in plant capacity utilization in conjunction with an improved product mix was the resolute implementation of consolidation measures. Jungheinrich is now leaner and more effectively set up than before. These are ideal preconditions for making targeted use of ensuing sales and earnings opportunities.
We set the stage for the company’s long-term development in the financial year that just ended. Our new factory in Landsberg (Saxony-Anhalt) was ramped up and the transfer of low-platform truck production from Norderstedt to Landsberg was completed on schedule. Manufacturing processes at the Norderstedt plant were realigned. Another point of focus was the expansion of sales activities on Asia’s booming markets. In this context, the plant in Qingpu (China) that we use to supply the Asian market with products specific to the region was expanded and readied for the manufacture of a further piece of warehousing equipment. Moreover, we plan to build a new factory on the same site. New products for new segments and markets is also one of the many topics with which we will prove our ability to perform as an intralogistics service and solutions provider with manufacturing operations at the world’s biggest trade show for the sector in Hanover, Germany, in May 2011: CeMAT.
Highlights of our appearance will primarily include innovative products from the ‘Logistics Systems’ Division. We developed them in close cooperation with the Austrian-based software firm ISA, in which Jungheinrich took a stake in 2009.
‘Close cooperation’ is also a very good description of the promising start of the still young sales partnership between Jungheinrich and MCFA (Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc.) in North America. It is bearing its first fruits, supported by our proprietary development centre in Houston (Texas, USA), which is constantly supplementing the product range for this region by adding new items.
Maintaining a high level of research and development activity for customer-oriented products requires robust corporate financing. This is what Jungheinrich stands for. After all, only with a secured basis, backed by premium-quality products and a highly motivated team, can one “shape the future”—a motto that will put its stamp on the current and future fiscal years and get customers excited about our brand.
We thus believe that we are well equipped and more than optimistic that we will be able to partake of the market’s future growth. In sum, we expect the financial year underway to display a positive business trend and we anticipate further increases in orders received, sales and earnings, provided that the economic environment remains stable.
We thank our employees and our shareholders for their trust. Our gratitude goes out to our employees for their outstanding performance. This is the prerequisite for Jungheinrich returning to its former sales and earnings strength in the near future.
Hamburg, March 17, 2011
Hans-Georg Frey
Chairman of the Board of Management