Dubai - MENA Herald: Phoenix Contact, an electrical engineering company recently released the company’s growth figures for 2015 and strategic growth plans for 2016. “We achieved our planned revenue growth of eight percent in 2015 and are therefore in a strong, secure market position,” stated Chief Executive Officer Frank Stührenberg at a press conference, expressing his satisfaction with Phoenix Contact’s economic growth over the past year. The corporate group’s revenues reached AED 7.8 (€1.91) billion in 2015.
“However, we are aware that nearly half of that growth resulted from temporary exchange rate effects,” Stührenberg added, in explanation of these results. “Bearing that in mind, we will keep a close eye on ‘real’ market development this year and modify our investment decisions accordingly.” The industrial electronics manufacturer invested AED 556 (€135) million in the expansion of the corporate group in 2015, while adding another 500 employees on board last year.
Phoenix Contact is expecting moderate revenue growth of roughly five to seven percent for the current year. Stührenberg is confident in his outlook: “We want to surpass the AED 8 (€2) billion mark in 2016.” The company wants to invest approximately AED 618 (€150) million in national and international expansion activities. An investment of AED 90.7 (€22) million will increase production volumes at the site in Nowy Tomyśl, Poland. A new, 3,300 sq. m. factory in Russia will be completed by the end of 2016. Phoenix Contact has also invested in acquiring stakes in Leadsoft, a Chinese software company that develops cloud solutions for engineering tools, and Ecologix Sensor Technology GmbH, the latter acquired at the end of March via Phoenix Contact Innovation Ventures GmbH. Ecologix is an Austrian tech start-up that makes sensor systems to detect ice on surfaces, particularly at wind turbine facilities.
Touted as the economic barometer of consumer confidence, the Hannover Messe (Hannover Trade Show) begins on 25 April. The U.S. is the partner country this year. “With AED 1.1 billion (USD 300 million) in revenues, the U.S. is our next-strongest market after Germany,” Stührenberg says, explaining the significance of this partner country. “Moreover, our American subsidiary is a competence center within the Phoenix Contact Group, and boasts its own innovation center.”
The provider of electrical engineering, electronics, and automation solutions will present its innovations and forward-looking technologies at the 2,300 sq. m. exhibition space in Hanover, Germany. The company will introduce a conductor that provides super high-speed charging for electric cars at this event. Phoenix Contact developed this technology together with members of the automotive industry in Europe and the U.S., and it has now become the international standard.
Phoenix Contact will also present the patented Solarcheck modular switch-off, which ensures the safety of photovoltaic roof systems. This device monitors voltage relationships in these systems and automatically switches off the photovoltaic modules in the event of a fault or failure, such as a fire. This Phoenix Contact technology is quicker and more reliable than any human assessment or manual intervention could be. “The Hannover Messe has traditionally been the most important international trade show for us,” explains Stührenberg. “This year, we will be exhibiting more than 100 new innovations and are expecting delegations from more than 50 countries with over 1,200 visitors.”