Thanks to the internationalization of its business areas, Harting was able to compensate somewhat for the weak domestic business. At 155 million euros (-3 percent), sales in the Americas region were almost on a par with the same period of the previous year. The same applies to Asia, where the company achieved sales of EUR 240 million (-2 percent). In the EMEA region excluding Germany, turnover fell by 9% to 323 million euros. In Germany itself, a significant drop in turnover of 20 percent to 222 million euros was recorded.

Philip Harting: "These figures reflect the weakness of Germany as a business location. Our country is in a very serious economic situation and, unfortunately, this is largely of our own making. I would cite as examples the excessive bureaucracy, the high energy prices and the lack of stable framework conditions for investment. If the German economic engine stutters, this also has an impact on the European economy. We hope that the new German government will address these difficult framework conditions for the economy and SMEs in particular and take decisive countermeasures."

Internationalization as the basis for further growth

"At 69 million euros, Harting's investment volume in new products and technologies, automation, capacity expansion and digitalization is even higher than in the previous year," explained Philip Harting. "In doing so, we are also consistently driving forward our internationalization, which is necessary and the key to further growth on our way to becoming a global player for connector cable solutions. True to the motto: In the region for the region. Because Germany alone offers no opportunities for growth."

Major investments include plant expansions in Poland, capacity expansions in Mexico and the USA as well as the opening of a new R&D office in Hanoi, Vietnam, in addition to production in Vietnam, which started in summer 2023. "In the USA, we are taking advantage of the positive growth impetus provided by the Inflation Reduction Act," says Philip Harting, who would like to see similar investment incentives in Germany.

Headquarters planned in Switzerland

In future, supra-regional top management positions that drive global management will be bundled in Switzerland. The planning for this is underway, including the selection of the location, the IT process landscape and the regulations for employees. The new headquarters is scheduled to take up its function on October 1, 2025, the start of the new financial year.

"Even though the global headquarters will be located in Switzerland in the future, Espelkamp and the surrounding area will remain a central anchor point for Harting," emphasized Philip Harting. For this reason, significant investments were made in digitalization, automation and decarbonization at the most important sites in Espelkamp and Rahden in the 2023/24 financial year.