The 2010/2011 fiscal year yielded Rohde & Schwarz' best ever results in terms of revenue, investments and number of employees. The company ended the past fiscal year (July 2010 through June 2011) with revenue of €1.58 B, which represents a 25 percent increase over the previous fiscal year's level of €1.26 B. The size of workforce reached an all-time high of 8400 employees by the end of the fiscal year. Worldwide investments also reached their highest levels ever, especially investments in new production facilities (€130 M) and in research and development (€228 M).
After two years marked by the effects of the global economic crisis, Manfred Fleischmann, President and CEO of Rohde & Schwarz, has every reason to be pleased. "We are back on track for growth, and have actually exceeded our sales targets by a wide margin. We plan to continue steering this course in the future."
The company’s four pillars – test and measurement, broadcasting, secure communications, radiomonitoring and radiolocation – provide Rohde & Schwarz with a broad foundation. The strongest growth driver in the past fiscal year was mobile radio T&M. The Rohde & Schwarz order books are full thanks to the continuing boom in smartphones and tablet PCs, and the kickoff of LTE.
"The sudden surge in demand created a special challenge for our production plants,” said Fleischmann. "We responded by increasing the production capacity of our Memmingen and Teisnach plants in Germany and of our Vimperk plant in the Czech Republic."
Rohde & Schwarz profited from positive developments in the wireless communications market, particularly in the USA and China. These two countries were among the top contributors to total group revenue. Major growth was achieved in the wide-base market, especially in Europe. The new oscilloscopes launched in mid-2010 were well received by the market and Rohde & Schwarz also expanded its global market share in aerospace and defense.
The company’s broadcasting business also improved in 2010/2011 compared with the previous fiscal year, while results in the secure communications and the radiomonitoring and radiolocation business fields were more moderate due to a number of factors, including the consolidation of public spending in 2010/2011. Nevertheless, both fields made positive headway.
In the past fiscal year, the family-owned company continued to forge ahead with its global strategy by expanding activities in the USA and Asia. Rohde & Schwarz plans to improve its portfolio for the regional growth markets in these countries and is therefore focusing on the rapid expansion of its market position in the USA and its R&D center in Singapore. In addition, production plants set up in Singapore at the beginning of 2011 and in Malaysia in July 2011 bring production geographically close to the company’s R&D activities at its Asian headquarters.
Considering the 2011/2012 fiscal year, Fleischmann is convinced that Rohde & Schwarz is well positioned to face new challenges and withstand any possible setbacks. He expects revenue in the new fiscal year to be comparable to the 2010/2011 level. Over the coming years, the company plans to expand mainly through organic growth and by launching more new products. "We will continue to expand our position as a technological leader in the future to ensure that we can offer our customers the solutions they need to achieve success," stated Fleischmann.
