CORPORATE NEWS:
Nextrom's Heinonen takes step back as Knill/Nokia deal closes
Nextrom's Chief Executive Officer, Jouni Heinonen, is standing down from his position ahead of a shareholders' meeting (11th April) – the first under the new majority share ownership of Austria's Knill Gruppe. It is understood that Mr Heinonen will stay on as a member of the Board of Directors, subject to shareholders' approval.
Mr Heinonen joined Nextrom in 1986 as a development engineer and worked his way through the ranks to lead the company from 1999 onwards. He has now expressed his desire to seek new professional challenges. In his preview to Nextrom's 2004 Annual Report, Mr Heinonen indicated what a 'good fit' Knill is for Nextrom: "We were looking for an industrial partner already active in the same field. The industry calls for further consolidation to better deal with the overcapacity situation and our customers need a strong partner, capable of taking a global and long-term responsibility. The Austrian Knill Gruppe has experience in the market and is a long-term investor. We can also consolidate the fibre optic activities from the daughter company, Rosendahl. This agreement supports Nextrom’s position as a leader in the fibre optic industry, while Rosendahl, already a major supplier of metal cable machinery, will be able to focus on that market."
Announcing a reduction in Nextrom's net loss from Swiss Francs (ChF) 24.2 million to ChF 11.2 million, the company – buoyed by its newly strengthened balance sheet – is confident about 2005: "Demand and investment in the fibre optic industry have both started to grow slowly. Nextrom's sales volume will increase from 2004. The restructuring programme is expected still to burden Nextrom's results in the first half of the year, but as a consequence of the market improvement and positive impacts of the Nokia-Knill transaction in March 2005 the company is expected to break even in the second half of the year 2005."
Assessing the recovery in the global fibre optic market, Mr Heinonen observes: "Driven primarily by an increasing demand for Fibre to the Home (FTTH) in USA the global need for fibre should grow by about 15% in 2005. Also gaining significance are basic infrastructure developments in markets such as Russia and Middle East. As Nextrom is present in all major markets we will be one of the first machinery suppliers to enjoy the recovery of the business."
On China's fast developing infrastructure Mr Heinonen comments: "In most cases, companies must be able to manufacture locally to sell in China. And of course many lower-cost Chinese products are now found in western markets, increasing the need to manufacture in China for cost competition. In 2004, Nextrom started to sell also manufacturing capacity to third parties through its new Shanghai-based activity called Nextrom Manufacturing Services (NMS). NMS provides manufacturing services to European and North American machinery companies. The main benefits for customers are a low cost base, experienced engineering teams and local service capability. For NMS sales grew quickly reaching up to ChF 0.8 million [in the first year]."
Company: |
Nextrom Holding SA |
Country: |
Switzerland |
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+41 21 804 8401 |
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Website: |
www.nextrom.com |