Ten percent increase in sales in 2022

Hettich generated 1.5 billion euros in fiscal 2022, representing growth of ten percent. This sales growth was fed by both volumes and higher prices. In 2021, the company had even grown by 26 percent. The foreign share was 74 percent. Among foreign markets, the U.S. and India were strong. In China, Hettich had to accept significant declines due to the lockdown policy there and the real estate crisis.

Hettich invested 125 million euros globally in new products, buildings and machinery. Currently, Hettich employs around 8,000 people around the globe, almost 3,800 of them in Germany.

The upturn in demand in the furnishings market, which had begun in the 2nd half of 2020, continued until mid-2022. The topics of beautiful living and furnishing as well as Do-It-Yourself were highly popular with consumers worldwide. Many people were investing in their own four walls. The Hettich Group did its best to work with its customers to provide as many end consumers as possible with new, beautiful furnishing solutions. Hettich supported the trend of DIY projects with its solutions for the Do-It-Yourself sector. The long high in the furniture market was followed in the second half of the year by a noticeable reluctance to buy on the part of end consumers in many countries. High inflation rates in most regions of the world as well as rising electricity and gas costs caused prices for Hettich as a company and for end consumers to soar in 2022. “Goods for daily use, energy and furniture became more expensive, so that end consumers in many regions of the world began to reprioritize their purchasing decisions in 2022,” says Jana Schönfeld, Managing Director of the Hettich Group.

Hettich is also prepared with regard to possible gas bottlenecks. “But we have to accept much higher costs,” explains Sascha Groß, Managing Director of the Hettich Group. Thus, both liquid gas and electrical energy can be used as alternatives to the gas requirement in the manufacturing process. Support is also to be provided by processes for energy saving and recovery, as these are particularly sustainable. “It is very important for us to prepare for a possible gas shortage in order to remain a reliable and transparent partner for our customers even in such challenging times,” confirms Groß. “Of course, we welcome the fact that the German government wants to relieve the burden on companies by putting the brakes on prices.” Whether and in what form Hettich in Germany will be able to take advantage of the resolved electricity and gas price brakes at all is currently not foreseeable. The reason for this lies in the complex design of the price brakes.

“We have used the last few months to network even more closely across locations, to come up with new ideas together, to improve our processes across the board and, above all, to have fun working together,” Schönfeld is pleased to report.

At a first global Hettich learning event called Future Days, colleagues spent three days sharing their knowledge and being inspired by impulses from external experts. “Our colleagues organized a total of 62 online events and numerous face-to-face events at our sites around the world,” says Groß enthusiastically about the new learning format, which focused on strategy topics. In addition, a Germany-wide company party was held with 1,700 colleagues in the Bielefeld locomotive shed. At the end of the year, around 230 colleagues around the world took part in a joint Christmas video, thus ensuring even greater cohesion at Hettich.

Last year, the Hettich Group invested 125 million euros in new products, infrastructure projects, buildings, plants, software for digitalization, but also in capacity expansions. “For example, the construction of our multifunctional production hall in Kirchlengern is progressing. We were able to celebrate the topping-out ceremony at the beginning of February, for example, and are pleased that everything is progressing according to schedule,” informs Groß.

Challenges such as high steel prices as well as energy and freight costs, geopolitical risks and an uncertain gas supply will continue to accompany the company. Likewise, Hettich expects local Corona restrictions and a continued tight supply chain in 2023. “At the same time, we are confident that we will meet these challenges as a strong team. Our colleagues around the world do a great job every year and we will be able to rely on our reliable suppliers and partners also in 2023,” Schönfeld describes the strong cohesion.

“We are not just looking at the next few months, but thinking long-term,” adds Groß. “The various regions of the world in which we are active are developing very differently. Therefore, we will continue to flexibly adapt to the different needs of our customers in different countries and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.” Hettich is looking with confidence at global growth potential and will utilize free production capacities for existing and new customers.