The year is approaching the final stage. Snow has arrived on time and it looks like we can enjoy White Christmas in Finland.
This year has been a celebratory year for Alteams. We celebrated our 20 years anniversary, that were held in different locations and in a spirit of unity and friendship, which we will remember.
Europe has got back to almost pre-pandemic times, with workers returning back to their working places free of restrictions. However, companies, including ours, continue to utilize, wherever possible, online meeting systems, which save the cost of travelling and time resources, according to our sustainability targets. It is a pleasure to interact with our partners face to face again after the imposed restrictions were lifted.
In China, restrictions have continued until recently. Our Local Team in Suzhou has been very active in minimizing the impact and maintaining positive business operations.
Energy prices have risen dramatically, mainly in Europe, due to the conflict in Ukraine. Combined with other global cost pressures, this is driving heavy inflation in Europe. We have so far been successful in both controlling our costs and forwarding energy cost increases reasonably in our pricing. Therefore, we need to convey our sincere gratitude to our customers for their patience and understanding.
Alteams Suzhou continues successfully to serve its customers with excellent delivery and capability, in addition to effective co-operation. The result has been higher than expected in sales and profitability. Also, a significant new trend can be seen in the gaining of new local customers. Within the year several important investments and development projects have been made at Alteams Suzhou, including the installation of solar panels on our factory.
Alteams Poland has reached/achieved a positive year and the Local Team has shown/proved their ability to deliver improved results. Both customer and product portfolios are now well in balance and profitable growth is expected to continue in 2023 and onwards. Several important investments are also ongoing to further develop our productivity, including the upgrading of the existing factory automation level.
In Alteams Finland, growth has continued and projections for the future are good. However, high electricity costs and inflation have also impacted results. Both Laihia and Loppi factories, have worked on saving energy in their processes and several good practises have been found/identified.
Ashley Alteams is also having a really successful year due to strength in the Indian economy, and a good financial result is anticipated. Customer demand both in the commercial vehicle and networks sector has been great and the trend is expected to continue next year. The Local Team has performed superbly and their valuable work continues.
In keeping with the tradition, Alteams has donated the Christmas card money to the aid work of Unicef, this year supporting the children of Ukraine.
Merry Christmas and a Successful New Year 2023.
Asko Nevala
President and CEO
Alteams Group