100 % FUTURE - ALNO

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Furniture wholesaling/retailing
With 0.1 % growth in 2010, retail furniture sales recovered slightly from the previous year’s 0.7 %
decline. The Federal Association of German Furniture, Kitchen and Installation Specialist Traders
(Bundesverband des Deutschen Möbel-, Küchen- und Einrichtungsfachhandels [“BVDM”]) reported
that the uptrend was significantly detectable since the summer. Consumers spent EUR 29.7 billion
(including VAT) on furniture and kitchens, according to provisional figures. 6
Furniture production
Furniture with a value of EUR 15.6 billion was produced in Germany in 2010, according to data
published by the Federal Office of Statistics. This represents a 2.2 % increase compared with the 2009
crisis year, when furniture production was down by more than 12 %. Of the total value of furniture
produced in 2010, 29.3 % was attributable to seating furniture, and 29.1 % to other furniture, which
includes, among other items, wooden furniture for bedrooms, dining rooms, and living rooms, as well
as metal and plastic furniture. A further 22.5 % was attributable to kitchen furniture made of wood.
The Association of German Furniture Industries (Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie [“VDM”])
describes a similar situation. As of March 2001, the VDM was confident that the furniture industry
was on a slow but constant uptrend following the crisis. According to the VDM, German companies
were well positioned as the result of investments, rationalization measures, and modernization
measures that have been implemented over the previous ten years. The fact that there were almost
no insolvencies in the sector, and that job cuts were moderate, reflected this. 7 In overall terms, there
were more than 92,000 employees (– 3.2 % year-on-year) in more than 1,040 operations (consisting
of more than 20 employees) in the furniture industry at the start of 2011. 8
Kitchen furniture
Germany is largest production location for kitchen furniture in Europe, with respect to both kitchens
sold and production. The German Kitchen Furniture Industry Association (VdDK) reported that sales
by the German kitchen industry had increased by 1.6 % in 2010 to reach EUR 3.8 billion. In Germany,
year-on-year growth amounted to 1.1 % to a total of EUR 2.4 billion. Growth abroad stood at 2.5 %,
to an amount of almost EUR 1.4 billion. The export ratio was approximately 37 %, according to the
VdDK. In this context, it was particularly the second half of the year that reflected a positive trend. For
instance, Asia reported an almost full recovery, and there was an uptrend to report in both Eastern
Europe and France. The sector continued to report weakness, however, in the Netherlands, Spain
and the USA, because these markets have been particularly affected by the bursting of real estate
market bubbles.
Due to positive economic trends, the association takes a confident view of sector trends for 2011,
and anticipates that the German kitchen furniture industry will report sales growth of 3 %. Trends in
materials prices might nevertheless feed through to cost increases.
There were 56 kitchen furniture manufacturers in Germany in 2010 with 50 and more employees
(previous year: 57). Together, these companies employed 14,412 staff, 2.4 % fewer than in 2009. 9
6 BVDM, press release
Januar 11, 2011
7 HDH/VDM, Wirtschaft Kompakt,
Edition 1, January 2011
8 HDH/VDM, press release
January 13, 2010
Market positioning
The ALNO Group’s market share in Germany amounted to approximately 15.6 % in the 2010 fiscal
year, when measured in terms of the value of kitchen furniture sold, and to approximately 22.6 %
when measured in terms of the volume of kitchen furniture sold. 10 The market share in Europe stood
at approximately 4.0 % in the 2009 fiscal year. 11 As a consequence, the ALNO Group is the second
largest kitchen manufacturer in Germany, and one of the top five in its sector in Europe.
9 HDH, Monatsbericht nach Fachzweigen
2010, January 12, 2010
10 Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung,
presentation for the kitchen trading
panel for the ALNO Group, 2010,
pages 47-48
11 CSIL, Centre for Industrial Studies,
The European Market for Kitchen
Furniture, May 2010 – R2601, page 5