On June 24, the fan and drive specialist ebm-papst announced its figures for the 2019/2020 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2020. At EUR 2.188 billion, Group turnover was at the previous year's level (EUR 2.185 billion). The international share was 79% (2018/2019: 78%). The American market in particular developed positively for ebm-papst: the company was able to grow by 5.8% to 286 million euros. Turnover in Europe (excluding Germany) rose by 1.7% to EUR 1.042 billion (2018/2019: EUR 1.023 billion), in Asia by 0.1% to EUR 399 million. In the domestic business, ebm-papst generated sales of EUR 462 million, 6% less than in the previous year.

Strategy pays off

The 2019/2020 financial year was characterized by uncertainties such as the economic policy disputes between the USA and China, Brexit and currently the coronavirus pandemic. The company is therefore focusing on safeguarding ongoing operations and supplying customers. For the current financial year, ebm-papst is taking a long-term view and planning with different economic scenarios in mind. The same applies to investments, which are managed depending on economic developments worldwide. The EMC laboratory currently under construction in Mulfingen will be completed as planned. Around EUR 110.1 million will be made available for research and development in the 2020/2021 financial year. Among other things, this will flow into further development in the areas of digitalization and IoT (Internet of Things) as well as aerodynamics and acoustics.

ebm-papst continued to pursue its "local for local" strategy in the past financial year. The third production site in Xi'An, China, was completed and the second site in the USA, Johnson City in Tennessee, was put into operation. In the area of supplier management, "multiple sourcing" is to be given even greater consideration in future. According to the company, the "local for local" approach can reduce risks from trade policy conflicts and exchange rate volatility.

Accelerating digitalization

Digitalization is also being systematically driven forward. The company ebm-papst neo was founded for this purpose in April. Its aim is to market and sell digital solutions. These include systems for intelligent data analysis, which ebm-papst neo uses to optimize the energy balance and air quality in buildings. "Digitalization in connection with energy efficiency is an important future field for the ebm-papst Group and opens up many opportunities for us," says Stefan Brandl, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ebm-papst Group. "As a driver of innovation in air and drive solutions, we are using IoT and cloud technologies to develop new business models that will open up new growth potential for our company and, above all, offer our customers added value." To this end, ebm-papst has invested in three international start-ups in recent months. This partnership enables rapid technology transfer, for example in the areas of "improving the energy balance and air quality in buildings" or "intelligent data analysis and storage".