Download Annual Report 2006 - Mühlbauer Group

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, MANAGEMENT REPORT35jor responsibility towards its staff and the environment inwhich the company is active. We take this responsibilityseriously. Currently, Mühlbauer provides 238 apprenticesand trainees with the opportunity of completing qualifiedapprenticeships and traineeships in several technical andclerical jobs, thus rapidly making their way into the paidworkforce. Apart from the widespread range of training opportunities,the company also offers several further educationoptions, including language and computer literacycourses and qualification measures for the gaining of keyqualifications for personal development on which EUR 0.2million (PY: EUR 0.2 million) of external costs were spent inthe year under review.Social responsibility. Corporate social commitment has alwaysplayed a major role within Mühlbauer Group. Underthe management of the Josef Mühlbauer Foundation, createdby the company founder, Josef Mühlbauer, the foundationsupports selected social initiatives and projects throughlarge monetary donations. Furthermore, the company repeatedlysupports charitable purposes within the regionthrough monetary and in-kind donations. Even the annual“Mühlbauer-Run”, that has become a well-known event inthe region, is part of the company’s social commitment: asa result of the high level of staff participation in the races thatare tied to a fund-raising campaign, substantial funds areraised and subsequently used for charitable purposes.FACTOR INPUTInvestmentsAt EUR 9.2 million, gross investments in intangible andfixed assets (fixed asset investments) were EUR 2.9 millionhigher than the previous year’s value of EUR 6.3 millionand significantly exceeded the corresponding depreciation,as in the previous year. The brisk investment activitiesof the company generate the conditions for the extensionof business activities and are thus the cornerstone of thecompany’s future innovative strength.The rise in intangible assets is primarily due to the procurementof a document management and the introduction ofa new personnel management system.Fixed asset investments primarily targeted the modernizationand extension of the production network. The projectswith respect to the extension of the production sites, alreadycommenced in previous years, have been pushedahead at a correspondingly high level and were completedon schedule. The investments also focused on improvingthe performance of the sub areas and on keeping thetechnological equipment up-to-date. The key focus of thecompany’s investment activities was on the plants at theRoding and Stollberg sites.The investment rate as ratio of fixed asset investments tosales is 6.1%. The investments were fully financed from theoperative cashflow.Research and developmentSince the company’s foundation, continual technical innovationand further development has resulted in an extensionof our expertise. To continue to meet the requirementsof our customers and to further extend our market leadershipwith the assistance of innovations, we resort to agrowing and continually broadening knowledge base. Inour development centers, about 300 engineers and technicians,partly in cooperation with customers, universitiesand research institutes, successfully realize new systemsolutions in ever briefer development and production cycles.Our strong commitment in the Research and Developmentarea is also reflected in the number of propertyrights applied for. In the past financial year the MühlbauerGroup applied for 35 new patents (PY: more than 20), thusincreasingly securing its developments strategically. Dueto the high level of significance that the Research and Developmentarea holds, the Mühlbauer Group invested EUR17.1 million (PY: EUR 15.3 million) and thus 11.9% more inthis area than in the previous year. Based on sales, thiscorresponds with an R&D rate of 10.6% (PY: 10.3%).Expenditures in research and development in EUR million2015105015.3200517.12006SmartID. As a provider of complete solutions in the SmartIDarea, Mühlbauer strives to extend its technological competencealong the entire process chain, starting with productionmachines for chip module and card manufacturing,via data capture and verification systems through to softwaresolutions. In the centralized personalization of IDdocuments and GSM cards, newly developed IDENTIFIERand SCP personalization systems enable high throughputsof excellent quality. The decentralized product portfolio forthe personalization of cards and passports was also extendedand now not only offers optical black and whitelaser personalization but also opportunities for color per-The percentages were determined on the basis of the exact figures and may differ from the rounding figures