Würth Group

Künzelsau/Hohenlohe Region. The first quarter of the current financial year has been another successful one for the Würth Group. All important key figures show considerable increases.

For the first time in corporate history, the Würth Group succeeded in exceeding the EUR-two-billion mark in one single quarter. In the month of March alone the company was able to report a sales record of EUR 764 million. The excellent first quarter is due to sales growth both within the German Group (by 11.8 % to EUR 838 million) and in international business (by 10.0 % to EUR 1.29 billion). By the end of 2007, the Würth Group aims for a sales growth of 10.1 % to generate EUR 8.5 billion.

Disproportionate development of the operating result
As regards the operating result, the Würth Group shows disproportionate development. With an increase of 12 % compared to the previous year, the operating result comes to EUR 177 million after this year’s first three months. By the end of the year, the Würth Group expects an operating result of EUR 570 million. This corresponds to an increase of 10.5 % compared to last year.

The milestone of 60,000 employees has been reached
“At Würth, the human being is the center of attention. We are very glad to have been able to welcome the 60,000th employee at our company”, said Robert Friedmann, Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group. ”Würth still focuses on extending the sales force. Our 60,000th employee is a sales representative at Würth Finland, a company which is one of the most successful within the Würth Group.” As of 31 March 2007, the Würth Group employs 60,224 people worldwide (which corresponds to an increase of + 15.4 % compared to the same period under review of last year), 29,685 employees work as sales representatives.

The number of in-house staff increased by 6,390 employees. This is mainly due to the acquisition of the company Midcom, USA in January 2007. Approximately 4,000 in-house employees work at Midcom’s two Chinese production sites.

Record investment of half a billion euros
The Würth Group keeps on operating in the market in a highly dynamic manner. The planned record investment volume of half a billion euros for the year 2007 proves that. The investments are mainly intended for the extension in the field of warehouses and logistics, the construction and extension of production buildings as well as for technical facilities and machinery.

Würth plans more pick-up branches in order to supplement direct selling
Over the coming years, the Würth Group wants to extend the network of pick-up branches considerably. “In mid-2007, we will already open the 225th branch office in Freising. Our medium-term goal is a network which covers Germany. We want to put all of our customers in the position to reach a branch office within 10 minutes and thus enable them to immediately get what they need”, explained Robert Friedmann, Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, on the occasion of the press conference on the financial year 2006.

A pick-up branch has an average size of 600 square meters – enough space to offer a cross section of the most popular Würth products which are needed for daily use. The branch offices offer a total number of 5,500 products.

By offering its products in branch offices, the market leader in the field of fastening and assembly technology aims for extending the individual customer service even further. Würth considers this field to be a huge growth market, especially in markets which are already well developed (such as Germany). “Our customers have different needs. It is therefore our goal to offer every customer the best solution to every procurement situation in order to get the required Würth products in a quick and easy way”, explained Robert Friedmann.

The concept of pick-up branches thus complements in an ideal manner the established sales force of the Würth Group which will be the most important thing also in future. “Würth has always been a directly selling company. This will not change in future. That is why we will continue to invest in the sales force”, said Robert Friedmann.