ENGEL is expecting a significant decrease to its profits in the coming year, but has noted the importance of K Show for opening opportunities for trade.

The fall has come about due to a lack of demand caused by uncertainty among both customers and investment decision-makers within the industry, as well as the world political climate and the impact of punitive tariffs and sanctions.

The slowdown in the automotive sector has also been a major contributor, as the Germany-speaking parts of Europe, and China, the two regions that contributed the largest share of ENGEL’s six per cent sales growth in the last fiscal year, were hit particularly hard.

The economic and political uncertainty has also made forecasting extremely difficult, but ENGEL is confident that new market opportunities brought about by digitalisation and the transformation of the automotive industry, as well as the establishment of a circular economy, can help to counteract the downward trend.

Speaking at K, Dr. Stefan Engleder, CEO of ENGEL Group, said: “The declines are drastic and noticeable worldwide, but we invest in times of downturn to be prepared for the upswing.”

“We continue to focus on product and technology development as well as optimising our internal processes and locations. Through investments in our customer centres, we are significantly increasing our capacity for customer trials and joint development work with customers and partners.”

“The new requirements resulting from digitalisation, for example, means that our customers’ needs for consulting services continues to rise. We are taking this development into account through investments in our customer technologies.”

“The establishment of a circular economy for plastics has very quickly developed into a driver for innovation. At K Show we are showing what is already possible today and what we are working on for the future.”

“K will give this topic even more impetus.”