Engel’s sales have declined by 6.9%, less than the drop in the overall market

Sales at Engel Holding fell by 6.9% to E545.9m in the company’s 2005/6 financial year, compared with the record level of turnover achieved in 2004/5. The company pointed out however that it has increased its market share, since the overall injection moulding machinery market had declined by around 10% in the same period.

There had been weak orders in the first eight months of Engel’s financial year and although clear growth in orders arose at the end of 2005, it came too late to be able to compensate within the year. North American sales did well, mainly due to large machines, with 4% growth $123.5m (E97m). Sales of small machines from the plant in Korea grew 50% to E31m.

European market leadership was maintained and Engel’s market share increased in the year, it said. Although turnover was down by 7.1% to E431.5m, Engel Austria chairman Georg Tinschert commented that competitors within the Euromap group of machinery makers had done less well on average. Demand has been especially weak since 2005 in western Europe, especially in small and medium sized machines, Tinschert noted. But order intake recovered well in the last quarter of the financial year, giving Tinschert the confidence to predict around 10% growth in turnover at Engel Austria in 2006/7.

In the large machine market, there was reluctance early in the year from European automotive manufacturers to invest. But this was compensated by orders from manufacturers of large containers, as well as by orders from the electronics industry and from Asian automotive producers in eastern Europe.