Industry News

The Bossard Group reported continued high-level growth in the first quarter 2018, with sales hitting a record CHF 220.4 million, up 10.9% on same quarter last year.

The Group posted broad-based growth in all three of its market regions. In Europe, where Bossard generates around 60% of its sales, growth was 14.8%. Business in America and Asia also made a strong contribution to what Bossard describes as “this gratifying first quarter performance”.

Looking in more detail Bossard said it achieved double-digit growth in most Southern and Eastern European countries. In the more mature markets of Switzerland, Germany and Denmark, growth was “encouragingly solid”.

In America, sales increased by 8.2% in local currencies, equating to +2.1% in Swiss Francs, giving a total of CHF 58.1 million. Bossard says “the largest US electric vehicle manufacturer was less dynamic in the first quarter” with sales remaining at the previous year’s level, mainly due to a change in product mix. Conscious of financial market discussion, Bossard emphasised that the customer accounted for less than 6% of Group sales in the first quarter.

Asian sales rose 12.7% to CHF 30.2 million (+10.7% in local currencies), with investments made in past years having created a solid foundation for additional growth, especially in China, where first quarter growth was in double digits, as it was in Taiwan and Thailand. Bossard also sees positive signs in India, increasing sales in other industrial sectors than wind energy, where government intervention brought business to a halt.

Bossard concluded that the first quarter performance bodes well for coming months. It expects 2018 sales to approach CHF 850 million, compared with CHF 786 million in 2017.