Orell Fuessli : Füssli Holding ensures continuity and its future strategic direction

04.12.2018

Orell Füssli Holding ensures continuity and its future strategic direction

Long-term advance planning of a change in executive management at Swiss industrial and trading group Orell Füssli Holding: CEO Martin Buyle will leave the company at the end of September 2019. Dr Michael Kasch, the new head of the Security Printing Division, will take up his position in January 2019. The company will continue its work on the strategic development of the group in the coming months.

Zurich, December 4, 2018 - CEO Martin Buyle will continue to perform all his current duties with full operating responsibility until the end of September 2019. The early announcement of his departure ensures the greatest possible continuity at the company. Board Chairman Dr Anton Bleikolm pays the following tribute to Martin Buyle for his commitment: «Under Martin Buyle's leadership since October 2014 Orell Füssli has successfully mastered numerous operational challenges and made decisive progress in its strategic reorientation for the future. The Security Printing Division has been progressively stabilised in recent years and significant operating progress has been achieved. Atlantic Zeiser has been focused on its profitable core activity within the framework of the strategic reorientation. The Board of Directors already wishes to thank Martin Buyle for his sustained and successful efforts in a challenging business environment.» The Board has initiated the process of seeking a successor.

Dr Michael Kasch will already assume management of the Security Printing Division in January 2019. This had previously been planned for April 2019. Dr Kasch has many years of management and industrial experience in security printing and was most recently Regional Business Director at a leading supplier of security printing inks and security solutions.

The Board of Directors will press ahead with work on the strategic development of the group as a whole in the coming months. Alongside plans to strengthen the core divisional activities of security printing and banknote serialisation, Orell Füssli will develop a consistent vision for the future by the end of 2019 and on this basis identify strategic fields for development.

At its meeting on December 3, 2018, the Board also took note of the course of business in the current year. The Orell Füssli Group expects to report annual operating income (EBIT) before special items for 2018 in the same order of magnitude as the previous year.

Calendar

Publication Annual Report 2018 (media release, analysts' conference)	March 18, 2019
Annual General Meeting of Orell Füssli Holding Ltd	May 15, 2019 (Zurich)

Contact

Orell Füssli Holding Ltd
Arabelle Frey
Head Corporate Communications
Phone [phone], media[at]ofh.ch

Orell Füssli is a diversified industrial and trading group focusing on the core businesses of banknote & security printing, industrial systems used in the individualisation of security documents and branded products, book retailing and publishing. Orell Füssli generates sales of some CHF 250 million with about 800 employees at locations in five countries and is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.