BSH posts positive result for 2009:

• Good performance in Europe and Asia
• Trend towards energy-efficient home appliances continues as new financial year commences well

Munich, 19 May 2010 (bsh). BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH showed resilience in the difficult economic environment of 2009 and was able to strengthen its market position in many regions of the world. At BSH’s Annual Press Conference in Munich, CEO Dr. Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet pointed out that a particularly important factor in this success had been the company’s extensive portfolio of energy-efficient and resource-conserving appliances. In Europe, BSH sales of super-efficient home appliances in 2009 tripled compared to the previous year, with these accounting for approximately one fifth of total sales. BSH had been quick to recognise the energy-efficiency trend and is therefore now acknowledged worldwide as a pioneer in the development and manufacturing of energy-efficient home appliances.

Total group sales for BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH in 2009 amounted to € 8.405 billion. This figure was 4.0 percent lower than in 2008 (€ 8.76 billion). Adjusted for exchange rate effects, the shortfall was only 1.4 percent. As productivity rises and effective asset management made it possible to cut production costs substantially, EBIT increased by € 12 million to € 534 million (2008: € 522 million) and pre-tax earnings – at € 517 million – were even slightly higher than in the previous year (2008: € 510 million).
“We coped with the turbulences of 2009 much better than we expected only 12 months ago“, Dr. Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet stated at the company’s Annual Press Conference. “We were reaping the benefits from a corporate strategy predicated on a long-term policy and sustainability, from our products which are innovative and geared to customer needs, and also from the fact that we were quick to build up, globally, a particularly energy-efficient portfolio.“
During the year under review, the trend towards energy-efficient home appliances developed into a mega-trend. With its comprehensive product range, the company was able to benefit more than others from the rising consumer demand for these appliances and re-assert its leading role in this growth sector.

Sound performance on the German market

The German market proved to be particularly crisis-resistant in 2009 and, unlike the European market as a whole, was even able to expand. Sales on BSH’s home market increased by 4.4 percent to € 1.85 billion, with the company benefiting in particular from the strong demand for energy-efficient appliances. The company’s “world champions in energy-saving“, its heat pump dryer and its dishwasher based on Zeolith® drying technology, were particularly helpful in setting BSH apart from its rivals. Small consumer appliances, including vacuum cleaners, was also a segment which again performed well. Particularly fast growth was achieved with premium-range coffee-makers such as fully automatic espresso machines and capsule-based systems such as Tassimo. Altogether, sales of small consumer products in Germany increased by 9 percent in 2009.

Core workforce retained – power of innovation enhanced

BSH managed not to have to resort to any government-subsidized worktime reductions at its facilities in Germany in 2009 and was able to keep its workforce size stable at nearly 14,000. The company employs almost 40,000 people worldwide. Four-hundred-and-fifty young people were being trained in apprenticeship schemes – a figure well beyond the number required to meet the company’s own junior labour requirements. The company is counting on its facilities on the German market to continue to serve as a power house: approximately one third of its total investments in 2009 were made on that market and its seven factories there produced almost 10 million home appliances.

Well over half of the 2,300 employees working in BSH’s research and development divisions worldwide are employed at development centers in Germany. CEO Gutberlet also confirmed that a new research and development center for laundry care appliances is to be built in Berlin; this new facility will employ approximately 550 people.

Well positioned on the international stage

At international level, BSH benefited particularly well in 2009 from the fact that it had been quick to establish a presence in Asia, particularly China, where it now has six home appliance factories at three locations. Sales in China alone increased in 2009 by almost 26 percent. BSH is today the most successful foreign manufacturer of home appliances in China, where it ranks second on the market. Growth in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia was likewise in the double-digit range. The company’s business success in Asia was largely able to offset stagnant or even faltering performance in other regions of the world.
In North America, the ongoing repercussions of the financial and real-estate crisis meant that BSH’s sales figure – in euros - fell by approximately 11 percent.
In Western Europe, including Turkey, BSH saw its sales fall by approximately 6 percent; in Eastern Europe the shortfall was just over 12 percent. Nevertheless, the company performed better than the market as a whole in almost all countries in these regions and was able to strengthen its market position. In Europe as a whole, including Turkey, BSH’s market share for large appliances increased in 2009 by nearly 1 percent to reach 25.5 percent value-based. BSH thus is and remains the clear market leader in the home appliances business in Europe.

Pioneering innovations and super-efficient home appliances: leveraging future growth

In 2009 BSH increased its investment in research and development by a further 1.5 percent to € 267 million. This figure represents more than 3 percent of Group sales revenue.
With some 700 patent applications filed in 2009, BSH ranks among the top ten patent applicants in Germany and is the number one patent applicant in the white goods manufacturing industry.
In the super-efficient appliances segment, i.e. those refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers with an energy efficiency score significantly higher than their counterparts with a class A rating, BSH already has an extensive range of products and a secure lead in terms of technology. Numerous of its appliances are world leaders in terms of low consumption and have thus set the standard for the rest of the industry.
BSH was able to triple its sales of super-efficient appliances in Europe from 2008 to 2009. These appliances now account for around 15 percent of BSH’s total unit sales and one fifth of sales revenue. The Group therefore has excellent prospects of continuing to benefit from the energy efficiency mega-trend and further strengthening its market position in this segment.

Good start to fiscal 2010

For 2010, BSH is anticipating a stabilization of the home appliances market worldwide. Major European markets such as Spain, Great Britain and Turkey will recover. In the USA, the company intends to make full use of the increasingly strong demand for low-consumption home appliances. And in Eastern Europe and Asia BSH holds a strong position on the market and can benefit from the growth expected there.
CEO Gutberlet emphasized at the Press Conference: “With a revenue growth rate of over ten per cent compared with last year, we have made a very good start to fiscal 2010. Generally speaking we are expecting our revenue to grow in 2010 at a rate somewhere mid-way between 1 and 10 percent.“