The retail group grew by almost 20 percent in the first half of the year.
(Photo: dpa)
Stuttgart Despite the unstable global economic situation, the Würth Group has had the best half-year in its corporate history. The world market leader in assembly and fastening material was able to increase sales by 18.4 percent to 9.9 billion euros in the first six months of 2022.
Against the background of the difficult environment caused by supply and material bottlenecks, price increases, the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war, Würth boss Robert Friedmann was “more than satisfied”. Sales developed particularly dynamically with growth of 21.4 percent in e-business. This is followed by the electrical wholesale trade with 25 percent and the electronics division with 30 percent. Würth now earns every fifth euro online.
The operating result reached 720 million euros as of June – and was thus 38.5 percent above the previous year (520 million euros). The reason for the positive development is productivity increases, especially at the large, established companies in Germany, southern Europe and the USA.
If the trend continues, Würth could scratch the sales mark of 20 billion euros for the first time this year. According to Friedmann, however, it does not look like that: “We are aware that, given the cooling economy, we will probably not be able to maintain these high growth rates.” He now expects growth of between twelve and 15 percent for the year as a whole – provided the global economic and political situation prevails does not deteriorate drastically.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Nevertheless, Würth is increasing the forecast from May. At that time, Friedmann still expected growth of ten percent for the year as a whole. As the reason for the success, the CEO cites the worldwide positioning, the three-part distribution via sales representatives, branches and online shop and, above all, the ability to deliver. “The fact that we were able to win 50,000 new customers in the first six months is also due to our reliability,” explains Friedmann.
Praise for Habeck, criticism of the gas emergency plan
In the case of supply bottlenecks, for example with plastics, Friedmann sees a certain relaxation, but no all-clear. The company obtains 75 percent of its products from Europe, so that the current ship jams do not hit the Künzelsau-based company with full force. In addition, the company, which grew up trading in screws, increasingly relies on in-house production and a very close and long-term relationship with the suppliers.
Friedmann is concerned about the worsening energy crisis, even if Würth itself is not one of the major gas consumers. “The preference given to private households in the event of an imminent gas bottleneck must urgently be questioned,” he demands.
Contrary to what the spirit of the gas emergency plan intended, it is not a regional but a global bottleneck. Friedmann paid great respect to the Green Federal Minister of Economics: “So far, Robert Habeck has been doing the crisis management with great care”.
The CEO praises the Federal Minister of Economics: “So far, Robert Habeck has been doing the crisis management with great care.”
(Photo: dpa)
But if Russia stopped supplying gas, the prioritization of supply would have to be sensibly organized according to systemic importance. “We are all looking for alternatives – which in turn can be an opportunity with regard to the transformation to more sustainability,” said Friedmann.
Another concern is the price trend. Würth itself cannot pass all of its suppliers’ price increases on to its customers. That will have a negative impact on the annual result.
The number of employees is developing moderately. A total of 1,311 new employees were added in the first half of the year. 84,494 people currently work in the group, half of them in sales.
More: In the shadow of the patriarch: Würth CEO Robert Friedmann is in demand as a diplomat