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Management Report /
General Section on
Business Development
Management Report / General Section / 11
The Vorwerk Group is reflecting on a very satisfactory business year in 2011. In the 128th year of the
company’s history, total sales amounted to EUR 2.367 billion and was even as much as EUR 2.471 billion
if a full business year at HECTAS Group is taken into account i.e. an increase of 4.2 percent as against
previous year. Earnings before taxation could also be improved once again.
The business volume at the Vorwerk Group including the new business transacted at akf group amounted
to EUR 2.7 billion.
The direct sales companies again proved to be the main drivers with an increase in revenue worldwide of
5 percent. The direct sales companies in the Vorwerk Group in Germany achieved a plus of 5.4 percent,
with revenue running at EUR 301.3 million.
However, the Vorwerk Group also grew outside the direct selling operations, partly due to another increase
at Vorwerk Carpets. akf group grew its new business volume considerably by 51.4 percent.
To enable a far more distinct positioning on the market, the HECTAS companies were transferred as of
30 June 2011 to the Vorwerk Facility Management Holding KG, which is now a sister company of
Vorwerk & Co. KG.
Further progress was made in terms of the internationalization of the Vorwerk Group: the revenue generated
outside Germany was 67 percent (previous year: 66 percent), in direct sales it was even as much as
83 percent. Vorwerk is present in Europe, Asia and on the American continent with its own sales companies
and additionally has a wide network of distributors. The Vorwerk Group’s products and services are
therefore available in more than 70 countries.
A view to the individual divisions shows that Thermomix resolutely continued along the tremendous
growth path of recent years and thereby maintained its position as the most successful and dynamic
division. Sales of the versatile kitchen appliance increased by 16 percent and surpassed the 635,000 units
mark for the first time. The cornerstones of this success were the four largest Thermomix countries, Italy,
France, Germany and Spain, where far in excess of 110,000 Thermomix appliances could be sold in each
country.
The Kobold Division also recorded an increase in sales, particularly due here once again to the strong
Italian sales company – Vorwerk Folletto. In contrast, the German sales organization could not quite achieve