Annual Report 2007 - Muehlhan AG

ManaGeMent divisions share group ManageMent report Group Consolidated FinanCial stateMents
in our markets, we focus our activities on the key growth
regions for Ship Newbuilding and Ship repair. they are
the regions of Europe as well as asia in particular. We are
established in the markets there with our own locations
and can earn steady income in our core business. We also
have a presence in the united States.
Management and control performed
on the basis of proven principles
the Executive board and Supervisory board are in regular
contact regarding the operations of the Group that are
relevant strategically and economically. the two executive
bodies cooperate closely, and even engage in discussions
outside of the scheduled meetings.
the Group is managed from by the holding company in
Hamburg, and executive management is in close contact
with the subsidiaries. after the dissolution of the continental
management system during the past year (see comments
below), this contact has once again become more
immediate and direct.
The responsibilities of the
Executive Board were reassigned
during the past year, the Executive board reorganized responsibilities
within the executive body. instead of responsibility
for specific regions and business segments, purely
functional responsibility was approved. accordingly, the
chairman of the Executive board dr andreas C. Krüger is
responsible for the Strategy, Marketing and Sales divisions,
bernd Janssen for the operations, Materials administration
and technical audits divisions, and the Chief financial
officer Carsten Ennemann for the finance, Controlling,
investor relations, legal, personnel und financial audit
departments.
Research and development: Foundation for the
maintenance of our technological lead
We handle research and development for the entire Group
at the Hamburg location. the department employs one
scientist and five technicians who continue to develop the
technologies and devices used by the Group. as a result,
the Group has always been able to gain a technological
lead with respect to competitors in the past, and thus make
a significant contribution to the success of the Group.
Existing branch offices
domestically, we do not maintain any legally independent
branch offices apart from our subsidiary companies.
abroad, our Greek subsidiary company Muehlhan Hellas
Sa, athens, maintains an independent branch office in
istanbul, turkey.
general conditions and
business perForMance
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Global economic situation
continues to be favourable
the world economy continued to expand during the course
of the fiscal year. However, growth weakened slightly in
comparison to 2006. thus, the current estimates for real
growth in gross domestic product (Gdp) for the year 2007
for all major economic areas are slightly less than the
growth rates of the previous year. the asian countries,
in particular China and india, and the countries of
latin america are still experiencing economic growth far
greater than average, in accordance with the forecasts.
in the united States, growth of 1.9% fell well short of the
previous year’s figure (2.9%) With a growth rate of 2.6%,
Germany was at the level of the Euro area (2.6%), but
less than the previous year’s figure of 2.9%.
Market for marine surface protection continues
to be characterized by positive developments
the business of marine surface protection is currently affected
by two global trends: the first is the disproportionate
increase in global trade over the past seven years, and with
China in particular. a boom in Ship Newbuilding is associated
with it. in most cases, new construction capacities
are already fully booked through 2012. because of steel
surface maintenance work that typically occurs at intervals
(10 years for a ship’s interior, 5 years for the external areas),
the industry benefits from new each ship completed as
a result of prospective maintenance work.
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