01.04.2009

wissner-Bosserhoff defies the crisis Satisfactory growth at home and abroad



Wissner-Bosserhoff GmbH, Wickede, is closing the financial year 2008/2009 (31st March) with satisfactory results. As managing director Bernd W. Weber reported on the occasion of the Altenpflege + ProPflege Trade Fair, from 24th to 26th March 2009 in Nuremberg, the company specialising in the manufacture and distribution of furniture for nursing and old people's homes, expects a turnover of 44.5 million Euro (last year 39 million €). The growth was due to the export share, which has risen from 50 to 55 percent, as well as single-digit domestic growth, explained Weber. The increase in turnover is spread over both strategic business sectors, whereby in-patient care for the elderly has displayed single digit growth and the hospital sector, double digit growth, according to company information.
"Overall we are very satisfied with the 2008/2009 financial year in terms of increase in turnover and gains in market share, primarily in the export markets", explained Bernd W. Weber. He did have one reservation with respect to profit not mentioned in more detail. "Due to the burden of high material costs in 2008, results have not matched the corresponding increase in turnover", summarised the managing director of Wissner-Bosserhoff.
The Wickede company considers one of its success factors to be the innovations it has developed and launched on the market at the right time. The "carisma" nursing home bed, which won the "universal design award 09 – assisted living" and is aimed at the middle market segment, had more success than was expected right from the beginning. The "sentida" low nursing home bed also far exceeded expectations, contributing to an over-proportional growth in turnover. The full product range comprises everything from standard furnishings up to the premium segment, in both the in-patient nursing sector and in the hospital sector. Improvements have also been shown in the field of furnishing complete resident rooms, for which increasingly the company's own interior designers provide professional planning consultation.
In the export markets, our subsidiary in the Netherlands in particular has been able to considerably increase its market share. In addition, the two subsidiaries in France and Spain, both established in September 2007, have developed more than satisfactory and have been the most important factors in the expansion of our export share. Wissner-Bosserhoff is also active in the markets of Denmark, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and Turkey.
Bernd W. Weber was cautiously optimistic about the prospects for Wissner-Bosserhoff for the coming financial year, starting on 1st April. Although the backlog and receipt of orders is lower compared to the same period last year, projects begun before the end of the fiscal year helped to create a positive outlook. Accordingly, turnover for 2009/2010 is expected to increase slightly, the export share should continue to grow and profits rise again, as Weber stated the key points of his business plan. The development of the overall economic situation has to be taken into consideration, however. Weber: "Nobody can guess at the moment how banks will act in future in the financing of private homes for the elderly, or to what extent the labour market will influence decisions on whether nursing care at home will be preferred to accommodation in in-patient nursing care." Nevertheless, Wissner-Bosserhoff will add further innovations to its product portfolio and push ahead to provide sustainable spatial concepts for residential rooms.
The Wissner-Bosserhoff company group employs a total of 167 employees, of whom 132 work in Wickede. Together with its subsidiary Linet spol. s.r.o. in Slany, near Prague, which also belongs to WIBO Holding GmbH, some 60,000 beds were produced and sold in the 2008/2009 financial year for in-patient care for the elderly and for hospitals.