GEA : charts growth in revenue and order intake in 2019 with important progress achieved in group restructuring

As of January 1, 2020, the company has had a new divisional group structure in which the individual divisions bear full responsibility for revenue and results. GEA continues to work intensively on strengthening and improving the management of its service business, which delivers attractive margins and helps GEA build long-term customer relationships.

Over the next few years, GEA will focus on rigorously implementing the goals it communicated at Capital Markets Day in 2019, including the further optimization of its production and purchasing processes. These new measures will take place under the responsibility of Johannes Giloth, who has held the role of Chief Operating Officer of GEA since January 20, 2020. Efficiency increases in the new, central purchasing organization are expected to result in savings of more than EUR 25 million in 2020 alone. Moreover, GEA is pursuing the sale of individual parts of the company, particularly those transactions that were initiated in 2019. During the coming years, GEA will also introduce a standardized SAP system worldwide to replace the numerous ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems currently in use.

Another strategic focus at GEA is sustainability. 'GEA is already a trailblazer when it comes to sustainability. As a technology leader in many areas of mechanical engineering, we're setting benchmarks. Thanks to our innovative power, we can provide our customers with increasingly efficient systems that conserve even more resources, and we are expanding this core competency even further. For instance, in 2019 we founded the Sustainable Energy Solutions initiative, which helps our customers in the food industry save up to 90 percent of CO2,' notes Stefan Klebert. 'With our industry-leading know-how and value-creating innovations, we're able to contribute to managing global challenges like climate change and food security. GEA was listed at the very outset in the DAX 50 ESG index, underscoring our pioneering role in this area.' Internally, the company is working at full speed to become even more sustainable. Last year, GEA once again improved its standing in several sustainability rankings, and was one of the few German companies to achieve an 'A-' ranking, and to be included in the leading group of the world-renowned Carbon Disclosure Project. The company is also listed in the MSCI Global Sustainability Indexes with an ESG rating of 'A.'