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[Translate to English:] CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer

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[Translate to English:] Batteriemontage

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[Translate to English:] Arbeiten an Innovationen im Miba Makerspace

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[Translate to English:] CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer

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[Translate to English:] Miba Produktion

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Miba Group: Sales back to pre-crisis level<br/> More than 500 million euros in investments planned until 2027

Covid crisis year 2020 well managed

  • Broad product portfolio proved its worth even during the Covid crisis
     
  • Success and growth in growing markets of wind energy and eMobility
     
  • Miba is currently hiring 50 additional employees for its sites in Austria - primarily skilled workers and apprentices
     
  • Sales decline in fiscal 2020/21 only in single digits (-8.8%), markets have recovered since summer
     
  • Investment package of more than €500 million by 2027 in existing and new businesses  

 

Miba has come through the Covid crisis year well. This is shown by the company annual figures now published for the 2020/21 business year (February 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021). Sales declined by only a single-digit percentage in the crisis year and totaled 891 million euros (- 8.8% compared to 977 million euros in the 2019/20 business year). "It has once again been demonstrated that Miba, with its broad product portfolio for a wide variety of markets, is ideally positioned, particularly for challenging economic developments," says Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer. While, for example, the automotive business was strongly affected by global developments in spring, the wind energy market segment saw a sales growth throughout the year. Business with components for environmentally friendly truck drives in China also developed very well due to the stricter emission limits there.

In addition, over the course of the past summer and fall, business has picked up noticeably in all of Miba's divisions. "As a result of the strong market demand that has since returned, Miba has achieved a sales level since the beginning of the year that is at least back to that of before the start of the Covid pandemic," adds F. Peter Mitterbauer. Against this background, the company is currently hiring around 50 additional employees for its sites in Austria - primarily skilled workers and apprentices.

Continued focus on R&D as well as education and training also during the year of crisis 2020
In the year of crisis, it was important for Miba to continue to focus clearly on its most important topics for the future. More than 32 million euros were invested in research and development, and 43 new patents were registered. Miba now holds a total of around 400 patents, and more than 300 employees work in research and development. The company has also invested in training and continuing education, spending around one million euros on this. In addition, Miba continues to place a strong emphasis on apprentice training; in Upper Austria alone, 25 young people started an apprenticeship at Miba in the fall. In total, Miba employs nearly 300 apprentices. The company has invested almost 34 million euros in property, plant and equipment.

 

Growth in the future markets of eMobility and wind energy
"Technologies for a cleaner planet" is Miba's corporate mission. "We want our products to contribute to a cleaner world that is even more worth living in," says Miba CEO Mitterbauer, setting the course. "For us, this corporate mission is not only a source of motivation and direction, it also offers us great opportunities. And the developments of recent months in particular show that we can make good use of them."

One example is wind energy. Miba offers bearings, friction materials, power resistors and cooling technologies for wind turbines. It achieved strong sales growth in this business segment in the previous year. 

With its broad product portfolio, Miba is also more and more able to position itself in e-mobility. With its resistors, the Miba's Power Electronic Group has been accepted into one of the most important European e-car platforms and is investing two million euros in new production facilities in Styria for this purpose. Many new Miba product innovations relating to electric motors and battery solutions are also about to receive their first series production orders. In addition, Miba and the Mühlviertel-based company Voltlabor, in which Miba has held a stake since 2019, are two of only six Austrian companies that have been accepted by the EU Commission into the IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) program "EuBatIn." The goal of the initiative is to build a competitive European battery industry. 

 

Miba plans to invest more than 500 million euros by 2027
Miba sees major growth opportunities in future markets. Above all, decarbonization, i.e. the gradual transition to CO2 neutrality, and digitalization are important drivers here. "Miba's strategic goal is to develop and produce function-critical components along the entire energy value chain - and thus to contribute to the efficient and sustainable generation, transmission, storage and use of energy. In addition, Miba will continue to use its products to contribute to even more efficient, lower-emission and environmentally friendly conventional and hybrid drives," says Miba CEO Mitterbauer. To achieve this goal, the company plans to invest more than 500 million euros by the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2027. In addition to investments in existing business areas, Miba intends to invest more in new business areas, both in organic growth and in acquisitions. "With all of this, we want to grow sustainably and shape the future proactively," Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer is convinced.