The Picanol Group reported a consolidated turnover of 688.93 million euro over the full 2017 financial year, an increase of 8% compared to the 639.78 million euro recorded in 2016 (the best year in the history of the Picanol Group).
In 2017, the Weaving Machines Division again experienced a record-breaking year. Growing demand for quality and technology resulted in strong sales, mainly in Asia, and this led to further market share growth in many countries and weaving market segments. As a result, Picanol put a record number of weaving machines on the market in 2017. The sales of spare parts and accessories followed the positive trend of weaving machines.
The Industries Division (Proferro, PsiControl and Melotte) also showed strong sales growth in various market segments, while making an increasing contribution to the group’s turnover. On the other hand, rising material prices and a higher share of subcontracting versus in-house production had an adverse effect on the business performance. Within Industries, Proferro continued to modernize its machine park in order to increase profitability and production capacity.
The Picanol Group posted after-tax profits of 91.64 million euro, as compared with 88.38 million euro in 2016. In addition, Tessenderlo Group nv made a positive contribution to the after-tax profits of 10.07 million euro in 2017 (compared to 31.34 million euro in 2016). The group closed 2017 with profits of 101.71 million euro, as compared with 119.72 million euros in 2016.
For the first six months of 2018, Picanol’s order book is well filled, and the group expects to realize a turnover in line with that of the first half of 2017, but is taking into account a further negative impact of rising commodity prices.