07.01.10
MHM Holding GmbH
Feldkirchenerstrasse 15
D81111 Kirchheim Heimstetten
Germany
Phone: +49-89-9003-214
Fax: +49-89-9003-500
www.mhm.de
Sales: $917 million (approximately €640 million).
Major Products: Sheetfed, coldset and heatset offset inks; solvent-based gravure inks for packaging; water- and solvent-based flexo inks for packaging; UV offset and flexo inks; security inks; screen inks; fountain solutions, varnishes and transfer inks.
Key Personnel: Heiner Ringer, CEO and head of global marketing; Ursula Borgmann, R&D technical director; Thomas Lothar Hensel, corporate controlling and IT; Juergen Maeckelburg, supply chain; Andreas Leidert, CFO. Michael Huber München GmbH: Rudolf Einsiedler and Heiner Klokkers, managers. Hostmann-Steinberg GmbH: Martin Overhageböck and Stefan Müller, managers; Gleitsmann Security Inks GmbH: Thomas Kleindienst, manager; Hostmann-Steinberg Canada: Mark Wilson, Vivy DaCosta and Dr. Thomas Griebel, managers; Hostmann-Steinberg USA: Thomas Lothar Hensel, Ashwani Bhardwaj and Michael Geiger.
Number of Employees: Approximately 3,600 worldwide.
Comments: For the hubergroup and the entire ink industry, 2009 was challenging, with the global recession adversely affecting printers and ink manufacturers. Meanwhile, raw material prices continued to soar as supply of key ingredients became scarcer.
Heiner Ringer, hubergroup’s CEO, has gone as far to term it a “crisis,” and noted that the company’s sales were off 7 percent in 2009.
“Our industry was battered by various crises in both 2008 and 2009,” said Mr. Ringer. “There was the raw materials crisis in mid-2008. The price development skyrocketed in comparison to 2007, after drupa, by about 30 percent. The printing ink industry had never dealt with that type of development in the entire post-war period. The price increase for raw materials peaked in September-October 2008. For the turn of the year 2008-2009 the price situation settled again, but ‘only to turn into a drastic reduction in demand.’ In the first quarter of 2009, decreases in European demand of up to 25 percent were recorded, depending on the business area. As of today, the level of 2007 has still not been reached again. In addition, there were extreme fluctuations in currency exchange.
“It was something that no one was able to completely elude, and of course the hubergroup was not entirely unaffected,” Mr. Ringer added. “In comparison to 2008, turnover dropped by approximately €50 million, or 7 percent. Profit before taxes had already halved in 2008, whereas it rebounded slightly in 2009, largely on the basis of lower raw material costs and exchange rates, but not on the basis of an increase in demand.”
All of Europe was impacted by the recession. Mr. Ringer said that according to the statistics of the European Printing Ink Association, EuPIA, the Scandinavian countries have been heavily affected, as well as BENELUX and Spain. England was especially heavily impacted by a devaluation of the pound as a result of the financial crisis.
“Unfortunately, hardly any region has distinguished itself positively. In a world economic crisis, it is simply a fact that everyone is affected in some way,” he added.
To meet this downturn, hubergroup instituted a wide variety of cost-saving measures, most notably a temporary voluntary salary reduction, which the company has been able to reverse as the economy improved near the end of 2009.
“As they say, we have ‘tightened our belts,’ which is to say we have subjected all issuable positions to strict controls and saved wherever possible,” Mr. Ringer said. “We were able to avoid ‘reduced hours’ at the expense of the tax payer, but we agreed to voluntary salary and wage saving measures with the entire workforce of the hubergroup at a magnitude of approximately 9 percent. It is a measure that we were able to reverse – thank God – towards the end of 2009 on the basis of a slight improvement in earnings, primarily due to exchange rates.”
Raw material prices are a major challenge for all ink manufacturers.
“Fortunately, in times of low economic activity raw material prices are often falling as well,” Mr. Ringer said. “Now they are picking up again, though, which can be seen in more places than just the petrol station. According to our observations, the raw material price level was at its lowest in Q3 2009. This was also the case with the employment situation. Since then, a continuous price increase has been noted, which is strengthened all the more by the weak euro. The economic upswing is also a long time coming. I think everyone will somehow have to adapt to continually increasing costs.”
While hubergroup has continued to emphasize R&D and key investments, luxury items such as trade show participation has been eliminated. That includes drupa 2012.
“We have made an effort to not curtail important long-term expenditures, such as important investments or expenditures in research and development, and instead have cut out ‘nice to have’ expenditures. For example, participation in the next drupa simply failed the cost-benefit analysis,” Mr. Ringer said.
All things considered, it seems that the worst is past, although there are plenty of obstacles that lie ahead.
“We may also look to the future with cautious optimism,” Mr. Ringer observed. “The demand figures are not currently falling any further and it appears as though the bottom has been reached. The printing and printing ink industry, however, faces great challenges ahead and the coming months will provide a clearer picture of the tendencies.”
Feldkirchenerstrasse 15
D81111 Kirchheim Heimstetten
Germany
Phone: +49-89-9003-214
Fax: +49-89-9003-500
www.mhm.de
Sales: $917 million (approximately €640 million).
Major Products: Sheetfed, coldset and heatset offset inks; solvent-based gravure inks for packaging; water- and solvent-based flexo inks for packaging; UV offset and flexo inks; security inks; screen inks; fountain solutions, varnishes and transfer inks.
Key Personnel: Heiner Ringer, CEO and head of global marketing; Ursula Borgmann, R&D technical director; Thomas Lothar Hensel, corporate controlling and IT; Juergen Maeckelburg, supply chain; Andreas Leidert, CFO. Michael Huber München GmbH: Rudolf Einsiedler and Heiner Klokkers, managers. Hostmann-Steinberg GmbH: Martin Overhageböck and Stefan Müller, managers; Gleitsmann Security Inks GmbH: Thomas Kleindienst, manager; Hostmann-Steinberg Canada: Mark Wilson, Vivy DaCosta and Dr. Thomas Griebel, managers; Hostmann-Steinberg USA: Thomas Lothar Hensel, Ashwani Bhardwaj and Michael Geiger.
Number of Employees: Approximately 3,600 worldwide.
Comments: For the hubergroup and the entire ink industry, 2009 was challenging, with the global recession adversely affecting printers and ink manufacturers. Meanwhile, raw material prices continued to soar as supply of key ingredients became scarcer.
Heiner Ringer, hubergroup’s CEO, has gone as far to term it a “crisis,” and noted that the company’s sales were off 7 percent in 2009.
“Our industry was battered by various crises in both 2008 and 2009,” said Mr. Ringer. “There was the raw materials crisis in mid-2008. The price development skyrocketed in comparison to 2007, after drupa, by about 30 percent. The printing ink industry had never dealt with that type of development in the entire post-war period. The price increase for raw materials peaked in September-October 2008. For the turn of the year 2008-2009 the price situation settled again, but ‘only to turn into a drastic reduction in demand.’ In the first quarter of 2009, decreases in European demand of up to 25 percent were recorded, depending on the business area. As of today, the level of 2007 has still not been reached again. In addition, there were extreme fluctuations in currency exchange.
“It was something that no one was able to completely elude, and of course the hubergroup was not entirely unaffected,” Mr. Ringer added. “In comparison to 2008, turnover dropped by approximately €50 million, or 7 percent. Profit before taxes had already halved in 2008, whereas it rebounded slightly in 2009, largely on the basis of lower raw material costs and exchange rates, but not on the basis of an increase in demand.”
All of Europe was impacted by the recession. Mr. Ringer said that according to the statistics of the European Printing Ink Association, EuPIA, the Scandinavian countries have been heavily affected, as well as BENELUX and Spain. England was especially heavily impacted by a devaluation of the pound as a result of the financial crisis.
“Unfortunately, hardly any region has distinguished itself positively. In a world economic crisis, it is simply a fact that everyone is affected in some way,” he added.
To meet this downturn, hubergroup instituted a wide variety of cost-saving measures, most notably a temporary voluntary salary reduction, which the company has been able to reverse as the economy improved near the end of 2009.
“As they say, we have ‘tightened our belts,’ which is to say we have subjected all issuable positions to strict controls and saved wherever possible,” Mr. Ringer said. “We were able to avoid ‘reduced hours’ at the expense of the tax payer, but we agreed to voluntary salary and wage saving measures with the entire workforce of the hubergroup at a magnitude of approximately 9 percent. It is a measure that we were able to reverse – thank God – towards the end of 2009 on the basis of a slight improvement in earnings, primarily due to exchange rates.”
Raw material prices are a major challenge for all ink manufacturers.
“Fortunately, in times of low economic activity raw material prices are often falling as well,” Mr. Ringer said. “Now they are picking up again, though, which can be seen in more places than just the petrol station. According to our observations, the raw material price level was at its lowest in Q3 2009. This was also the case with the employment situation. Since then, a continuous price increase has been noted, which is strengthened all the more by the weak euro. The economic upswing is also a long time coming. I think everyone will somehow have to adapt to continually increasing costs.”
While hubergroup has continued to emphasize R&D and key investments, luxury items such as trade show participation has been eliminated. That includes drupa 2012.
“We have made an effort to not curtail important long-term expenditures, such as important investments or expenditures in research and development, and instead have cut out ‘nice to have’ expenditures. For example, participation in the next drupa simply failed the cost-benefit analysis,” Mr. Ringer said.
All things considered, it seems that the worst is past, although there are plenty of obstacles that lie ahead.
“We may also look to the future with cautious optimism,” Mr. Ringer observed. “The demand figures are not currently falling any further and it appears as though the bottom has been reached. The printing and printing ink industry, however, faces great challenges ahead and the coming months will provide a clearer picture of the tendencies.”