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Patron Peter Spuhler found a successor as CEO.
Stadler Rail, the Thurgau train builder, has appointed Markus Bernsteiner (55) as its new CEO. Beginning in 2023, he will take over from Stadler patron and interim president Peter Spuhler (63). Then he will focus again on his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Bernsteiner is currently Vice President of the Stadler Group as well as Executive Vice President of the Switzerland division. It also operates factories in Bussnang and St. Margrethen as CEO. As per the information, he has been working for Stadler since 1999.
A change is badly needed at the top, because at the moment things are not going well at the Zugsbauer of Bussnang TG, the stake is downstairs.
Although train maker Stadler Rail continued to grow in the first half of the year, it suffered a dip in profits. Because of the strong franc and financial losses, the net profit melted to 2.4 million francs.
Strong losses in the franc and the exchange rate
A year ago, the Eastern Swiss Group reported a net profit of 26.3 million francs. The group announced in a statement on Wednesday that the 30 million currency impacts due to the sudden and strong appreciation of the Swiss franc since the beginning of the year, especially against the euro, had a significant impact on earnings.
The consolidated result was also burdened by further exchange losses in the financial result of 32.1 million Swiss francs. “These are mainly due to valuation effects as of the reporting date due to the strong appreciation of the Swiss Franc – as a result of the increase in the key rate shortly before the half-year report – in particular compared to the Euro,” Stadler wrote.
On the other hand, sales rose 4% to CHF 1.47 billion. Operating profit before interest and taxes increased by 36% to CHF 66.8 million. The reason for this is a one-time effect in connection with the acquisition of BBR that was announced at the end of 2021.
Incoming requests doubled
In contrast, incoming orders jumped to 5.97 billion Swiss francs. The target for the year as a whole has already been achieved.
Peter Spuhler in some cases beat analysts’ expectations in terms of incoming orders, sales, EBIT and EBIT margin, but completely missed it in terms of net profit.
goals lowered
In addition, the group partially lowered expectations. Stadler still forecasts sales of 3.7 billion to 4.0 billion Swiss francs for 2022 as a whole. Investments of around 200 million Swiss francs have also been confirmed.
In contrast, Stadler is now aiming for a lower EBIT margin compared to the previous year’s figure of 6.2 percent. However, this percentage will be at least 5 percent. So far, the group has assumed a stable margin.
For 2025, Stadler has confirmed a profit margin target of 8 to 9 percent “in a stable economic environment,” but given current general conditions, 7 to 8 percent is realistic, the company wrote. (SDA/KOH)
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