Turnover up, profit down

Soudal, a manufacturer of chemical products like adhesives, sealants and PU foams for the building sector, completed the 2011 financial year with sales revenue of € 402.5 mio. The company currently employs a staff of around 1 450 in 37 corporate branches and logistics centres. The Belgian enterprise generated more than 90 per cent of its sales through exports to more than 110 countries beyond the Benelux states. As a year, 2011 was marked by multi-million euro investments in the expansion of production capacity in Belgium and internationally, as well as in corporate research and development. Soudal managed to increase sales by more than 13 per cent by comparison with the previous year, though this sales growth did not translate into an equally high profit margin. As the company reports, the continuously rising prices of raw materials, which could not be passed on in their entirety, as well as negative exchange rate fluctuations, meant that the pre-tax profit of € 13.4 mio in 2011 was not able to maintain the 2010 level.