AUTONEUM
Group turnover for 2020 collapses by almost one-fourth / Two candidates for board of directors
Autoneum HQ in Winterthur / Switzerland (Photo: Autoneum) |
Swiss supplier Autoneum’s (Winterthur; www.autoneum.com) turnover continued its nosedive in 2020. The thermoformer has provided preliminary figures that will be presented in full in early March. According to the report, group revenue fell by 24.3% to CHF 1.74 bn (EUR 1.62 bn), compared to CHF 2.3 bn in 2019.
Turnover in the group’s European business was 28.8% below the previous year’s figure at CHF 641.8m. North American sales fell below the strategically important level of CHF 1 bn to CHF 753.5m, a drop of 24.8%. In the Asian market, there was a decline in turnover of 7.8%, with sales of CHF 254.1m. Autoneum’s South American business was down by 29.7%, with sales of 88.4m CHF.
According to the Swiss company, the downward trend is the result of the pandemic-related decline in global vehicle production. In Winterthur, however, hard times were already on the horizon before Covid-related market uncertainties began.
While more precise figures on the company’s development are due to be published in early March 2021, the Autoneum holding company’s board of directors is facing staff changes ahead of the annual meeting on 25 March 2021. Liane Hirner and Oliver Streuli will be nominated for election to the board of directors. Hirner, who hails from Austria, has been the CFO and a member of the managing board of Vienna Insurance Group since 2018. Streuli, a Swiss citizen, has been CEO of compatriot company PCS Holding since 2019.
Peter Spuhler, a businessman and politician affiliated with the Swiss People’s Party, who has been part of the board of directors since 2011, will be stepping down. In parallel with his role at Autoneum, Spuhler is also the interim CEO of Swiss company Stadler Rail. What this will mean for Spuhler’s 16% minority stake in Autoneum is currently cause for speculation in Switzerland’s financial press.
Turnover in the group’s European business was 28.8% below the previous year’s figure at CHF 641.8m. North American sales fell below the strategically important level of CHF 1 bn to CHF 753.5m, a drop of 24.8%. In the Asian market, there was a decline in turnover of 7.8%, with sales of CHF 254.1m. Autoneum’s South American business was down by 29.7%, with sales of 88.4m CHF.
According to the Swiss company, the downward trend is the result of the pandemic-related decline in global vehicle production. In Winterthur, however, hard times were already on the horizon before Covid-related market uncertainties began.
While more precise figures on the company’s development are due to be published in early March 2021, the Autoneum holding company’s board of directors is facing staff changes ahead of the annual meeting on 25 March 2021. Liane Hirner and Oliver Streuli will be nominated for election to the board of directors. Hirner, who hails from Austria, has been the CFO and a member of the managing board of Vienna Insurance Group since 2018. Streuli, a Swiss citizen, has been CEO of compatriot company PCS Holding since 2019.
Peter Spuhler, a businessman and politician affiliated with the Swiss People’s Party, who has been part of the board of directors since 2011, will be stepping down. In parallel with his role at Autoneum, Spuhler is also the interim CEO of Swiss company Stadler Rail. What this will mean for Spuhler’s 16% minority stake in Autoneum is currently cause for speculation in Switzerland’s financial press.
09.02.2021 Plasteurope.com [246849-0]
Published on 09.02.2021