Despite global crises, the business of the ifm group of companies continues to be on a successful course of growth. Records in sales and employment were once again achieved in the past financial year.

"On average, we produce more than 70,000 products per day and deliver them to our customers," says Christoph von Rosenberg, CFO of the ifm group, one of the impressive figures when presenting the balance sheet figures for 2022. In total, there were around 26 last year million products. With sales of over EUR 1.37 billion, a new sales record was achieved, which was 18% higher than the previous year. The ifm group of companies was also able to benefit from positive exchange rates. Earnings (EBIT) of 7.6% (previous year 10.6%) were better than planned despite considerable additional costs due to inflation and the supply chain. "We have made significant additional investments in material procurement and accepted a high inventory build-up in order to counter the global challenges in the supply chain," explains Christoph von Rosenberg: "With these measures and our global presence through sales companies and commercial agencies in 165 countries, we were able to be flexible and responding successfully to market requirements together with our customers in direct dialogue.” The R&D expenditure increased in line with the turnover, so that the ratio remains at 10%. In 2022, more than 100 new patents were registered, and the number of actively used patents is 1,170.

In order to be able to continue the course of growth, the staff naturally has a decisive role to play. "The total workforce at the end of the year comprised around 8,750 employees worldwide, an increase of 8% compared to the previous year," says Christoph von Rosenberg: "And since our growth course is to be continued, we are currently paying particular attention to recruiting activities." In Germany more than 5,270 employees work for ifm. More than 3,600 of them at the locations on Lake Constance, where a good 2/3 of all products are manufactured. A large part of the research and development area is also located there.

Christoph von Rosenberg also sees the outlook for the current financial year as positive: “For the current financial year 2023, we are confident that we will continuously improve material procurement, so that we expect a good increase in sales. The first quarter of 2023, which has just ended, confirms our assumptions.”