Miba plans continued growth and creation of more than 2,000 additional jobs worldwide

18% rise in revenue compared to the previous year

  • Annual revenue of the Miba Group rose by 18 percent to EUR 888 million (previous year: EUR 752 million)
  • Number of employees up by around 1,000 to 7,000
  • EUR 120 million of investments in property, plant and equipment and in research & development over the fiscal year just ended
  • Miba is building two new plants in China where it is investing EUR 100 million over the next four years
  • With the acquisition of the industrial bearing segment of the John Crane Group with three plants in the US and one in Germany, Miba is entering a new business line – the development and production of industrial bearings

The technology group Miba closed fiscal year 2017–2018 (February 1, 2017, to January 31, 2018) with a new record annual revenue of EUR 888 million.

This equates to an 18-percent increase over revenue of EUR 752 million reported in the previous year. This growth stems largely from organic growth (15.5 percent), and 4 percentage points from acquisitions – negative exchange rate effects cost 1.5 percentage points in growth. After several years of mixed developments, over the past fiscal year all Miba divisions again posted a growth in revenue. The number of Miba employees rose by around 1,000; since February the Group has had a workforce of over 7,000 employees.

 

EUR 120 million of investment in Miba’s future
Miba investments amounted to around EUR 120 million in fiscal year 2017–2018, EUR 80 million of which was attributable to property, plant and equipment, and EUR 40 million to research & development. The research ratio at Miba has traditionally been high, amounting to 4.5 percent in the past fiscal year. “We want to continue to invest heavily in Miba’s future,” confirms F. Peter Mitterbauer, Chairman of the Management Board of Miba, on the Group’s planned growth: “Miba’s solid equity base, with an equity ratio of 54.3 percent, provides the ideal prerequisites for continuing to freely and independently invest in Miba’s future and to grow.”

 

Miba is building two new plants in China and investing EUR 100 million 
Miba has been active in China since 2007, where it now employs 1,000 people. Since 2010 revenue at the production site in Suzhou near Shanghai has grown from around RMB 200 million to over RMB 800 million – that’s over EUR 100 million. Furthermore, the high-power resistor business for electric vehicles and for power transmission over long distances (HVDC technology) is growing strongly at the new Miba site in Shenzhen near Hong Kong. “For that reason we decided to invest EUR 100 million in the strongly growing Chinese market over the next four years,” says F. Peter Mitterbauer: “One the one hand, we are building two new production sites in Suzhou and Qingxi near Shenzhen at a cost of almost EUR 20 million, and on the other, we will strongly expand our existing production capacities in China with a comprehensive program of investment in plant and machinery.”

 

Acquisition of the industrial bearing segment of the John Crane Group with four plants 

Today Miba is one of the most important global suppliers of engine bearings. Now the company is entering another new line of business: the development and production of industrial bearings. An expansion such as this has long been a part of Miba’s strategic focus as it is the logical addition to the current product portfolio of the Group’s engine bearing division. In doing so, Miba is entering a new market, one in which it has not previously been active. As the first measure toward establishing this new line of business, Miba acquired the industrial bearing segment of the John Crane Group with three production sites in the US and one plant in Germany. The acquisition has already been approved by the competition authorities and will be completed soon.

 

The industrial bearing segment of the John Crane Group produces hydrodynamic bearings for use in mechanical and plant engineering. The bearings are primarily used by customers in the energy and plant engineering industries, in high-performance applications such as turbines, compressors and industrial pumps. They are used in applications in the power generation, oil & gas and chemical industries. Around 350 employees at Miba’s new production sites generate annual revenue of around EUR 50 million. “By acquiring the John Crane industrial bearing segment, we aim to be a strong, global bearing specialist for engine bearings as well as for industrial bearings in the market,” explains Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer. “In this way, we are taking the next important step in growing our Group. It strengthens our competitiveness and provides a wider range of development opportunities for our employees.”

 

Miba technology for the world’s largest e-vehicle manufacturer
Miba also plans to expand its existing business. “For decades our Group has been an important and recognized partner to many of our customers in developing and producing highly efficient components for better energy efficiency, more environmental friendliness, greater precision and improved performance,” says Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer: “It is important that in our current, highly successful business we continue to listen closely to our customers and their needs.” Furthermore, Miba wishes to exploit the growth opportunities offered by new drive concepts such as hybrid technologies and purely electric driving. “Two years ago we established a central e-Mobility Innovation Lab, and are also focusing on electrification across all divisions,” says F. Peter Mitterbauer: “Initial successes confirm we are on the right track. China is the world’s largest sales market for electric vehicles. Miba has used this opportunity and its EBG high-power resistors are already being used in the purely electric vehicles of many major automotive manufacturers, including vehicles made by the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars.” Miba is also developing and building production facilities for the construction of stators for electric motors on behalf of its customers. And Miba also offers its customer battery cooling technologies.

 

 

Growth creates demand for more than 2,000 additional employees worldwide
Since 2010 Miba has created around 4,300 new jobs worldwide, and the growth continues: in the next three years alone the Miba Group will require an extra of more than 2,000 employees. “We need well qualified, skilled employees for our existing and strongly growing business,” explains Miba CEO F. Peter Mitterbauer: “In addition to external searches for new employees, we are also training around 220 apprentices, and have developed our own internal training and upskilling programs. We are also permanently looking for technicians, sales representatives and developers, both for our existing business and for new growth areas related to the electrification of powertrain technologies and digitalization.”