BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
Stable business in 2019
Despite major challenges, the German electrical appliances manufacturer BSH Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) was able to maintain its position as one of the world's leading companies in the household appliance industry in 2019. Overall, the company achieved the third-strongest turnover in the company's history with EUR 13.2 billion. This corresponds to a decline of 1.2 percent compared to the previous year. Research and development expenditure rose to EUR 713 million in 2019. At 5.4% of sales, it was above the record level of 2018 (5.0%).
“2019 was a challenging year for BSH. The consistent implementation of our strategy „Hardware+“, with which we address current and future consumer needs, has helped to bring the financial year to a satisfactory conclusion despite adverse circumstances, ”said Uwe Raschke, Chairman of the BSH Management Board.
View of the regions
BSH increased its sales in Europe (Western, Central, Eastern Europe) in 2019 despite the tense market conditions and competitive situation by almost one percent compared to the previous year. In Asia-Pacific, BSH saw a decline in sales of around 10%, largely influenced by the declining business in China. Market consolidation, increased competition and the rapidly growing online trade remain the challenges in this region. In contrast, there were “gratifying sales increases” in Australia, India and the Southeast Asian countries.
Sales of home appliances in America (North America including Mexico, Latin America) grew by almost 10%, positively influenced by successful project business, i.e. the complete furnishing of large real estate projects with home appliances. In this market, BSH sees great opportunities for the future to become even more attractive to consumers with networked household appliances and the wide-ranging digital ecosystem Home Connect.
At the end of 2019, 58,200 people were employed at BSH worldwide, 4.6% fewer than in the previous year. This decrease is mainly due to the market development in China.
BSH is increasingly investing in climate and environmental protection
From 2020, all BSH locations will be climate neutral. By expanding self-generated renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency in production, BSH wants to save 22.5 GWh of its energy consumption (this corresponds to 2.8 percent of total energy consumption compared to 2017) and its own capacity to generate renewable energies by 2, Expand 5 GWh. With these measures, BSH is reducing its CO2 emissions by 5,000 t. By 2030, BSH plans to invest around 100 million euros in climate neutrality and reduce CO2 emissions from its own production by a further 20 percent.
Research and development expenditure remains at record levels
BSH increased its spending on research and development in 2019 to 713 million euros, which corresponds to 5.4% of total sales. The focus continues to be on digital technologies: software for controlling networked household appliances, voice control, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Outlook 2020
"With our numerous new products and digital solutions, we are well positioned for further positive development at BSH," says CEO Raschke. "However, it is already foreseeable today that 2020 will be at least as challenging as the previous year in view of the diverse economic and political uncertainties, as well as the unforeseeable consequences of the corona virus."
