Photo by David Vink Wittmann Group management at its 40-year anniversary event in June. Left to right: Georg Tinschert (managing director), Werner Wittmann (chairman) and Michael Wittmann (CEO).

Plastics machinery producer Wittmann Group increased its turnover by 19.5% to €359.4m in 2015, based on good growth in Europe, combined with particularly strong growth in Asia, Mexico and the US.

The company management announced the results at an 8 June press briefing during the company’s 40-year anniversary event, held in an entire hall hired at the Vienna fairgrounds and attracting 1,500 visitors. It was pointed out at the event how, starting in 1976 with seven employees, the group now has 2,050 employees, of which 820 are in Austria.

CEO Michael Wittmann showed how turnover accelerated in both 2014 and 2015. It had previously increased from €247m achieved in 2011, as “the first stable year for everyone since the 2009 recession”, by 5.5% and 5.16% in respectively 2012 and 2013, followed by 9.6% in 2014.

Chairman Werner Wittmann said R&D investment accounts for around 6% of Wittmann Group annual turnover. He told PNE that injection moulding machinery (the former Battenfeld business acquired in 2008) accounts for around 40-45% of turnover, ancillary equipment and robots for 55-60%.

“We thought injection moulding machines would have stronger growth, but both sectors had around the same growth,” he said.

In March 2016, staff in Wittmann Battenfeld’s Kottingbrunn moulding machine plant were informed of 2016 targets of €132m on both incoming orders and turnover in the injection moulding machine business alone.

Michael Wittmann said at the 8 June briefing that order intake in the first half of 2016 was at a high level, with strong demand for SmartPower and MacroPower machines.

Werner Wittmann talked about overall turnover of €370m as the target for 2016 for all business areas together, admitting the 3% growth forecast for 2016 is conservative. This is clear from the 2017 target of €400m, implying 8% growth from 2016 to 2017 based on the 2016 forecast.