The manager has been the prosthesis manufacturer’s chief financial officer since September.
(Photo: Ottobock)
Berlin The prosthesis manufacturer Ottobock is preparing to go public this year. “We are on course with the planning for this step,” CFO Kathrin Dahnke told Handelsblatt. The company is now ready for the capital market. Ultimately, however, the decision rests with the owners – the Näder family and the financial investor EQT. From the point of view of financial market experts, shares in the company could be traded on the stock exchange for the first time in autumn.
The family-run company has been preparing for this for several years and had previously brought EQT into the group of shareholders. However, the owners around Hans Georg Näder had to postpone the plans again and again because the stock market weakened in the announced periods. The corona crisis had recently delayed the plans.
The Russian attack on Ukraine has now put additional pressure on the capital markets. Most of the candidates have therefore postponed their IPOs. This includes the job platform Stepstone, which belongs to Springer-Verlag. In addition to Ottobock, the Volkswagen Group in particular is driving the IPO of its sports car subsidiary Porsche. According to unanimous information from circles in the group and banks, the spin-off of the VW offshoot should take place in the fall.
A listing on the stock market promises Ottobock better access to sources of money that will be used to finance further growth. The company does not see itself under pressure, as it is showing solid growth. CFO Dahnke is now giving an insight into the economic development for 2021 for the first time: Sales increased by 13 percent last year to 1.19 billion euros; adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) rose from 216 million to 234 million euros.
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Dahnke switched from lighting specialist Osram to Ottobock last September to support the preparations for the IPO. She succeeded Jörg Wahlers, who had to leave the post for health reasons.
The main owner of Ottobock had to repeatedly postpone the stock exchange plans.
(Photo: dpa)
The bottom line for the past financial year is a profit of 19.6 million euros, as Dahnke said. It’s narrow, but for the CFO it’s proof of the company’s profitability. “We have felt the effects of the pandemic, but we are in a robust position,” she said. Although the surplus is small in relation to sales, the company distributed part of it as a dividend to the Näder family and EQT.
Owner Näder emphasizes the independence of the Ottobock management
Doubts about the profitability of the company had repeatedly arisen in the past. Critics complain that interventions by the largest shareholder, Hans Georg Näder, have thrown Ottobock’s internal order upside down from time to time.
Näder, who once inherited the shares in the company, rejected this. In the past, like representatives of EQT, he emphasized that the board of directors led by its boss Philipp Schulte-Noelle ran the operative business independently. The company had grown significantly under Näder, and today the 60-year-old is Chairman of the Board of Directors.
After growth last year, Dahnke expects sales and earnings to increase in 2022. “We have planned significant growth for this year.” All business areas should contribute to this. All fields had already shown good growth last year. Ottobock produces medical devices such as prostheses and wheelchairs, but is growing strongly in the areas of service and so-called exoskeletons, which make physical work easier for people on construction sites and in factories.
However, the outlook for the year as a whole is limited by the war in Ukraine, as Dahnke said. This creates some uncertainty. This probably applies not only to finances but also to the stock market environment. If this becomes cloudy, the step onto the stock exchange floor is likely to take longer.
More: Back to Ottobock: Kathrin Dahnke will be the new CFO