Industry News

In a dynamic market environment characterised by high demand, supply chain bottlenecks and the Covid-19 pandemic, SFS boosted its sales by 11% to CHF 1.893 billion (€1.8 billion), an outcome that was based on its ability to fill customer orders.

SFS states that whilst the 2021 financial year was characterised by strong market demand, supply chain bottlenecks and the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, its focus on temporary capacity adjustments in the previous year enabled it to not only preserve jobs and hold on to expertise, but put it in a strong position to respond swiftly to the recovery in demand.

The Engineered Components segment recovered substantially in the wake of the Covid-19 related slump of the 2020 financial year. In the automotive industry, recovery had already begun in the third quarter of 2020 and this persisted into the first half of 2021. Bottlenecks in the semiconductor supply chain started putting pressure on OEMs’ production figures in the summer months, which then also impacted call-offs at SFS.

While the trend in the various industrial niche markets served by the Industrial division exhibited a similar yet delayed pattern overall, supply chain problems impacted this division to a much lesser degree. The Aircraft business lingered at a low level yet began showing initial signs of a recovery during the fourth quarter. Overall, the segment generated sales of CHF 975.2 million, representing growth of 8.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The exceptional demand situation that the Fastening Systems segment had already successfully leveraged in the first half of the reporting period – to generate record results – continued in the second half of the year, albeit at a slightly lower level. This strong demand resulted in widespread supply shortages on the market, however. Both divisions successfully managed to largely guarantee their ability to fill customer orders in this challenging environment.

The generally stable situation in terms of material and product availability enabled the Construction division to take advantage of its good positioning and gain new customers. While the Riveting division made use of the good demand situation among industrial customers, the business with customers from the automotive industry cooled down substantially over the course of the second half of the year.

In this exceptional environment, the segment generated CHF 574.9 million in sales, which corresponds to a remarkable 17.4% increase over the same period of the previous year.

SFS establishes presence in quality tools

The addition of Hoffmann SE gives SFS Group a strong international position in the quality tools. The two companies have been collaborating successfully for many years and share a similar value proposition and corporate values. Both are positioned as leading providers in their respective industries. Their decision to join forces marks a milestone and opens up major development opportunities. The board of directors and Group executive board of the SFS Group will be strengthened with key individuals from Hoffmann.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Hoffmann is on-site in over 50 countries, with a workforce of approximately 3,000 employees. Hoffman generated approximately €1 billion in sales in 2021 and is a specialist international systems partner for quality tools that is well-known on European markets and serves more than 100,000 customers with a product range comprising around 500,000 items.