Haarslev signs contract for two huge orders

With two huge orders totaling EUR 47m the Danish company Haarslev is on the crest of the waves. These orders are the largest ever in the history of the company which designs and manufactures state-of-the-art systems and equipment for processing animal by-products for animal feed. In the small town of Haarslev in the heart of Denmark, the international company has a strategy of investing approximately 3 percent of their annual revenue every year in development and new technology.

– In January we received an order from an American customer totaling EUR 21.5m and that was our largest order ever. However, that record did not last long as we have just signed an order totaling EUR 25.7m. These two orders are the culmination of a long and dedicated sales and development effort, and we view these big orders as a sign of confidence from our customers in Haarslev’s leading technology, systems and service, says Han Defauwes, CEO of Haarslev.

Even before these orders were booked, Haarslev was close to an all-time high order book and the company is currently making significant investments aimed at securing a stronger platform as the company continues to grow.

– One of the goals of our 2020 strategy is to increase our revenue by 50 percent and that does not come by itself. A strategic cornerstone for us is the OCE metric – On-time, Complete and Error-free, which we are focusing on a lot at the moment. Also, Leadership through Innovation is another important focus area for us, where we have recently appointed an Innovation Director and expect to double our staff in the development and innovation department, says Han Defauwes.

2017 – high on activities and low on results

2017 was characterized by a high level of activity in Europe and North America. This means that the order book was filled throughout the year – and is strong in 2018. The financial report just published for 2017 shows a decline in revenue compared to the year before, however, some of this is related to changes in accounting principles.

– As of 1 January 2017, we decided to make some changes to our revenue recognition principles which had a negative non-cash one-off effect on our revenue of DKK 90-115m in 2017. Still, we are of course not happy with revenues of DKK 1.4bn resulting in a deficit of DKK 136m, says Han Defauwes. He is, however, very optimistic about the future.

– In 2017 we saw an increase in our overheads and also a number of project related costs had an adverse impact on the bottom line. On that basis, we have initiated an optimization of our business processes and we are among other things implementing a new ERP system to help us structurally improve our business going forward. We expect to increase our revenue by more than 10 percent in 2018 – which of course will add positively to our overall financial performance.

For further information please contact HR Group Director Hanne Lunding Røhl on phone: +45 23 73 10 43 or e-mail: hanne.l.roehl@haarslev.com.

Facts on Haarslev

Haarslev designs, manufactures, deploys and maintains state-of-the-art systems and equipment for processing fish, animal by-products, by-products from food and beverage production, domestic waste, sewage sludge and biofuels. Solutions that optimize processes and save energy. With 1,100 employees in 17 locations across six continents Haaslev offers manufacturing, engineering, service spare parts and process support worldwide.