Saori Dubourg worked for the chemical company BASF for 26 years, including six years on the board. The German manager has been head of the plastics and foam company Greiner, based in Kremsmünster, since March 1st. Now she made her first appearance at the balance sheet presentation.
Greiner’s sales fell from 2.3 to 2.1 billion euros in the previous year. All divisions (Packaging, Neveon and Bio-One) fell short of expectations. But they are not dissatisfied, the decline is due to the challenging environment with a weak economy, high inflation and increased costs, said Dubourg.
Circular economy as a goal
She distributed her board colleagues Hannes Moser and Manfred Stanek as well as the division heads Rosen. “We work excellently as a team, are ambitious and roll up our sleeves.” The aim is to improve profitability, grow and create value. As a family business, Greiner is long-term oriented. In general, she was warmly welcomed in Austria.
“Our goal is to continue the transformation into a circular, sustainable global player,” said Dubourg. As reported, Greiner wants to have all resources completely in a cycle by 2030.
In the packaging division, sales fell by seven percent to 845 million euros in 2023. “It’s not pretty, but it’s significantly better than the trend in Europe,” said Moser. The declines are greater across the industry. Although Greiner achieved moderate volume growth, consumers are increasingly turning to cheaper own brands and less to premium products with appropriate packaging.
The Neveon foam division recorded a decline of 12.5 percent to 641 million euros in sales. This is because a lot of mattresses and upholstered furniture were bought during the Corona period, but less now, and because money is less loose due to general inflation. There was a slump in boiler insulation in Germany due to the unclear funding policy. Things went better in business with the aircraft industry and are back to pre-Corona levels.
Sales in the Bio-One medical device division fell by 8.1 percent to 637 million euros. The hospitals and laboratories were full and savings were being made in research. A slight recovery can now be seen.
Investments in Europe and USA
“As difficult as the year was, it showed that size and diversity as a group of companies make us more resilient and provide security,” said Stanek. Dubourg emphasized Greiner’s innovative strength and quality. This year, Moser expects a sales increase in the “low single-digit percentage range”.
Greiner does not disclose any results. However, the cash flow fell by 38.7 percent to 119 million euros in the previous year.
The company invested 138 million euros last year, 18.2 percent less than in 2022. 80.1 percent of this went into projects in Europe. “We are committed to Europe as a location,” emphasized the entire board of directors – even if the commitment to North America is to be increased in the next few years and the share of sales in Europe has fallen from around 81 to 76 percent in the past three years.
Inflation and wage costs are challenging in Europe and especially Austria, but Greiner has shown that it can hold its own with targeted investments, said Dubourg. The EU’s Green Deal brings a lot of bureaucracy, but also opportunities.
Job cuts abroad
The number of employees in the Greiner Group fell by 1,082 to 10,544 in the previous year – but not in Austria, where there was an increase of 55 to 2,050 employees. There are currently 190 vacant positions across the group, 60 of which are in Austria. The job cuts took place firstly through the sale of the Perfoam automotive business to the French Treves Group (around 600), and secondly through operational layoffs, especially in Germany and other countries, due to weak demand.
Author
Alexander Zens
Economics editor
Alexander Zens
