Austrian fittings manufacturer Blum has recorded €2.3 billion (£1.97bn) in turnover for the 2023/2024 financial year.
With a slight decrease of -1.2%, Blum said “turnover has remained consistent with the previous financial year.”
In more detail, the Blum Group recorded a total of €2,297.16 million in turnover from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, equating to a reduction of €27.3mn (£23.4mn) compared to 2022/2023.
Commenting on the results, Philipp Blum, managing director of the Blum Group, said: “The first few months of the last financial year were challenging for us and the industry as a whole. However, there were some positive signs in the second half of the year and we are noticing improvements, even though the market environment remains challenging. The cost of raw materials, energy and staff in particular is currently very high.”
Despite current market conditions, Martin Blum, also managing director of the Blum Group, believes there are still opportunities: “This difficult market situation prompts us to really address our customers’ needs. We have 9,294 employees around the world all working together to keep Blum moving forwards and inspire our customers with innovative products.”
In its statement, the fittings manufacturer said that to generate growth, it has “made some investments with an eye on the future: a total of €287mn (£246mn) was invested in the 2023/2024 financial year.”
This includes the acquisition of Belgian sales agency Van Hoecke, the redesign and opening of new showrooms around the world, and the expansion of multiple plants in Austria. “Our most important investments, however, are those we make in our employees,” commented Martin Blum.
“For us, it was clear that our colleagues are the priority even in difficult economic situations. In other words, our employees could rest assured that their jobs would be safe, and thanks to our flexibility, we completed the tasks in hand together as a team,” added Philipp Blum.
The company’s statement also stresses a continued focus on its Austrian site as it heads into the future: “This is where our roots lie and we feel connected to our homeland,” said Martin Blum. He added: “Nevertheless, we must remain competitive internationally as an exporting company.
“We currently have some challenges to face in Austria as well as Europe – such as high wage costs, rising energy and raw material prices, and also the often laborious bureaucracy. We hope that measures will be taken to improve the situation for companies loyal to a location such as ourselves.”
Both Blum managing directors are expecting further challenges ahead, but also anticipate that the situation will ease in the long term: “We are optimistic that the economy will pick up towards the end of 2024 and demand for our fittings will increase again,” said Philipp Blum, while Martin Blum concluded: “Regardless of the economic developments, we will put all our energy, ingenuity and innovative strength into remaining a future-proof partner for our customers and a stable employer for our employees.”
Closer to home, Blum UK recently announced a brand new leadership team, which included the appointment of new managing director, Matthew Glanfield.
Former managing director Mark Richardson retired from his position at the end of June, and as a result, Glanfield has been named as his successor.