Neways 2019 turnover up while result is down

Newsays recorded a net turnover of EUR 531.7 million in 2019, up 4.9% from EUR 506.8 million. EBITA for the full year came in at EUR 30.3 million, compared to EUR 30.2 million in 2018. Operating result for 2019 amounted to EUR 15.1 million, down EUR 5.9 million from 2018 but in line with company’s adjusted profit forecast. Net result for the full year 2019 ended up at EUR 8.5 million, a decrease of 41% from EUR 14.4 million during 2018. “Neways recorded healthy turnover growth in 2019, but at the same time this growth was accompanied by sharp fluctuations in demand. This puts high requirements on our internal organisation and our business processes. Despite our efforts, Neways was unable to turn turnover growth into healthy profit growth in 2019,” says CEO Eric Stodel. Stodel continues saying that the company’s priorities for 2020 are therefore to increase productivity and flexibility, to position technological solutions with higher added value and to improve the agreements with customers to make Neways' operational and financial performance more robust and raise it to a higher level on a structural basis. At the start of 2020, the order book is well filled and according to the CEO there is a balanced spread between the sectors that are important to Neways, such as the automotive market (including e-mobility), healthcare, the semiconductor industry, industrial automation, power & energy and agri-business. For 2020, the company says it will focus less on growth and more on actual returns. One of the company's priorities is to strengthen its positioning as a Life Cycle Partner and System Innovator for clients. Another priority is to control costs and at the same time make the organisation more robust and flexible. The latter will be achieved mainly through further standardisation of the business processes within the group, making the internal outsourcing of production orders more efficient and standardising the order intake process.