We expect that overall demand will be slightly more stable than over the past twelve months. While it is reasonable to assume that there will be a dip in sales in Europe, demand is expected to grow in the North American and Asian markets.
The acquisition of Springfield Wire moved us one step closer to becoming a global player and reduced our dependence on developments in Europe. It also means that we have a more complete range to offer the international market.
High-volume sales to the consumer-oriented sector tend to reflect the general state of the economy, and we anticipate that this will remain subdued in 2013. For investment-related segments the outlook is more varied, although there is everything to suggest that segments linked to the oil and gas industries will continue to perform well over the year.
The coming year will see the completion of work begun in 2012 to integrate the operations of Springfield Wire with those in the rest of the business area. Coordinating Springfield’s Mexican and US units with our existing operations in North America will create a rational, competitive business that will benefit from significant rationalisation synergies.
The acquisition of Eltwin, which develops and produces steering and control systems for electric motors, is fully in line with NIBE Element’s strategic development plan to become an all-round supplier of steering, control and heating solutions.
Product development and marketing activities will continue to focus on products with increased system content for both commercial and investment-related sectors. The acquisition of Eltwin has also given us specialist competence in industrial electronics and components for measuring and controlling applications, and this will be of great benefit in our work to develop complete system solutions.
We believe that our strategy of combining intensive product development and rational production with a strong local presence will stand us in good stead for winning new market share.