Gurit has reported reported preliminary and unaudited net sales of CHF 360.5 million for the full year 2017, compared to CHF 352 million in 2016). This represents an increase of 2.4% in reported Swiss francs and an increase of 3.1% on a currency-adjusted basis.
The composite materials business achieved mixed results in its various market areas. Gurit says. ‘In wind, it suffered from a demand halt in the Indian wind energy industry as of spring 2017, attributable to the time delays caused by the newly introduced auction system, as well as a lower demand in the wind energy industry in China compared to the prior year,’ it said. The Marine superyacht and leisure markets showed growth, while material sales to the Middle Eastern construction industry continued to be affected by the political and financial situation in the region. In total, net sales in the composite materials business decreased by 7.2% year-on-year from CHF 265.6 million in 2016 to CHF 246.4 million in 2017 as a direct consequence of aforementioned market conditions in India, Middle East and China. Gurit said that it expects the market situation in India and the Middle East to improve in 2018.
Gurit`s composite components business reported net sales of CHF 22.3 million in 2017 compared to net sales of CHF 17.4 million in 2016. This represents an increase of 28.3% in reported Swiss francs and an increase of 31.5% on a currency-adjusted basis.
The company's tooling business said that it reported a record. Net sales increased by 33.1% (currency-adjusted: 35.5%) to CHF 91.8 million in 2017, compared to net sales of CHF 69.0 million in 2016.
This story is reprinted from material from Gurit, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.