FFG Europe eyes German ops, bigger share of mould market

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ETMM: What goals (turnover, market development, etc.) does FFG want to achieve through this acquisition?

Maniglio: I’m always a little bit reluctant to talk about quantitative goals. To be honest, we’ve only done due diligence so far and now I’ve started working with the German team. But any reasonable logical goal needs to be processed with the team together so we can set realistic goals for the future. If I were to provide a number today, it would be more of a desire than a realistic goal. I prefer to speak about goals when we have the possibility.

ETMM: How did FFG Europe perform last year?

Maniglio: The turnover [was] 10% higher, just like in previous years. So we expect a turnover of approximately €80 million. It [was] still a difficult year, especially because of the financial situation. We would have many more projects and much more turnover if our customers were able to get their projects financed easier. So the problem is really financing. Especially in Europe. But there is a good atmosphere around in our industry, especially in the milling machine sector; we had some big projects in aeronautics, big projects in automotive design and prototyping. The growth and the relaunch of the brands Sigma and Rambaudi and Sachman continued, which is something that has been going on in the last few years. So from the market point of view, I have to say that we are relatively satisfied given the difficulties that we have around.

ETMM: How do FFG’s growth goals look like in the medium term?

Maniglio: I think that we have a steady growth in front of us. Because our growth is not just random or it happens because we are lacking. I think that it happens because we continue to systematically create a condition to grow in new geographical markets and new sectors. That means we start to create synergies within the group. For example, if FFG Werke has a very strong position in a large engineering group in Germany or in Russia, and FFG Europe is not present in that particular group, we have the chance to also sell FFG Europe machines in that group and vice versa. So [...] if you have a systematic action of this type, turnover increases. That’s why I’m confident that there will be a stable increase. Then of course we have all experienced what happened in 2009 to the whole industry, so things like that I cannot predict. But if nothing dramatic happens, we should continue to grow.

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FFG Europe eyes German ops, bigger share of mould market