Annual Report 2010 - About Heraeus

6
Heraeus 2010 ··· Group Management Report ··· Consolidated Financial Statements
letter from the Board of Management
In no small measure, we credit these extremely positive results to our employees. Without their expertise,
their hard work, and their flexibility in time of need, such success would be inconceivable. We are grate-
ful for this and equally grateful for the support of the employee representatives.
Global economic recovery also increased the demand for precious metals, with noticeable effects both
in industrial demand for platinum, gold, and silver – which boosted prices, in some cases significantly –
and in increased demand for gold and silver as investment bars. This development led to greater activity
in precious metals trading, which in turn boosted revenues.
With our expertise in processing precious metals and advanced materials, as well as providing related
services, we continued to offer custom-tailored solutions for our customers in 2010, substantially
strengthening their competitiveness. At the same time, we used this expertise to build on our strengths,
occupying global niche markets in which few competitors can keep pace. In the section of this annual
report called “High tech fills the niche,” we set forth the Heraeus model for success, which rests on our
innovative capacity.
To further strengthen our innovation leadership, we have invested considerable sums in research and
development and expanded our patent portfolio with more than 6,000 patents (including those acquired
through mergers and acquisitions). Once again this year, we reached our ambitious long-term goal of
achieving an innovation rate of about 20% for the Group as a whole.
In financial year 2010, we accomplished the main objectives of the Vision 2010 strategy we laid out in
2003. In addition, we presented our new Corporate Guiding Principles 2020 to the Group. The Corporate
Guiding Principles 2020 set forth the goals, self-concept, rules for behavior, and values embraced by