DEKRA on course for further growth

DEKRA, the Stuttgart-based testing organisation continues to grow successfully: The world's number three in technical services is set to post sales totalling significantly more than 1.4 billion euros for the 2007 fiscal year – a plus of roughly ten per cent.

The result for the group also reached a new high. The number of employees grew by 1,300 to its current figure of approximately 17,500. “DEKRA has never been in better shape”, said the Chairman of the Management Board, Dipl.-Kfm. Klaus Schmidt, talking at a press conference in Stuttgart on 6th December. "DEKRA’s economic weight allows us to invest massively in business activities.

We are going to be a key player in the coming consolidation process”, Schmidt stressed. For instance, DEKRA has made tens of millions of significant investment in industrial inspection.

The last German inspection monopoly is about to fall here on 1st January 2008. Schmidt also announced that DEKRA is to enter the product certification business in the coming year.
Full service provider in industrial testing and inspection

Following the break-up of the inspection monopoly for plant requiring periodic monitoring, DEKRA will have access to the complete range of industrial testing and inspection services. The market volume in Germany is thought to amount to one billion euros while in Europe as a whole the total comes to around 4 billion euros. Schmidt said: “We are determined to cut into the competition in the medium term and carve out a good 20 per cent market share. We have already said that this cannot be achieved by organic growth alone.

By the end of the first quarter of 2008 we will have concluded further acquisitions." To bolster its position in industrial testing, DEKRA took over the explosion protection specialists EXAM at the beginning of 2007. Klaus Schmidt: “Industrial customers have had to wait decades for an alternative to the previous monopolistic structure – but from 2008 onwards this alternative will be DEKRA. Our business units in the fields of industry, environmental and occupational safety, real estate, construction and certification are well equipped to handle some hard competition and will play a leading role both nationally and internationally.”

From 2008, DEKRA will be entering a further growth area by expanding into the market for the product certification of consumer goods ranging from technical medical products to foodstuffs. Schmidt announced that DEKRA had no intention of leaving this lucrative market to the technical monitoring associations any longer. An impressively equipped laboratory is currently being set up in Stuttgart and is scheduled to start its operations in the second quarter of 2008.

“Our interest will not be confined to Germany alone”, said Schmidt. Other laboratories are being planned in other countries around the world, including China.

Market leadership in automotive business expanded

DEKRA is the national and European market leader in periodic vehicle inspection and assessments. In Germany, the company has been able to maintain its market share of almost 35 per cent in vehicle inspection despite intense competition. The Business Unit DEKRA Automotive developed dynamically in the area of used car management by making use of the software program DEKRA CarOperator for car dealers and DEKRA FleetOperator for leasing companies and major customers.

Both modules are being increasingly employed in countries outside Germany, as in China just recently. Likewise, the trend towards modern software solutions can also be seen in the assessments business. Various new developments were successfully tested in the field at customers.

The Business Unit DEKRA Automotive

International has expanded successfully. In 2007 new activities in Sweden, Slovenia and the Ukraine were added to the fold. Success in winning the tender in Morocco for a network of almost 40 vehicle test centres made it possible to take the first step into the North-African market.

DEKRA Testing & Inspection grows by 20 per cent
The Business Unit DEKRA NORISKO Industrial has recorded impressive growth that benefits the entire group.

Even before the final liberalisation of the industrial inspection markets DEKRA Testing & Inspection GmbH had posted organic growth of around 20 per cent. Growth of over 50 per cent has been recorded both for the testing and inspection of elevators and pressure vessels. In the second DEKRA core market in France, NORISKO continued its own success story with a two-digit growth in sales.

New areas of activity were exploited in Poland and Turkey. DEKRA Certification with its majority stake in DEKRA Vinçotte Certification USA Inc. has made its mark on another high growth market. DEKRA can now offer certification for the aerospace industry worldwide.
Dynamic personnel services
The fourth strategic pillar of the DEKRA Group, the Business Unit DEKRA Personnel, also experienced dynamic development in 2007, achieving a two-figure rate of growth in turnover.

The DEKRA Akademie successfully refocused to virtually double its results with a plus in sales of about one third. A subsidiary in Hungary was established in a first step towards successful internationalisation of training and further training.
The temporary employment agency DEKRA Arbeit has pursued its group growth both at home and abroad. A new subsidiary was set up in the Czech Republic and there will soon be an entry into the markets in Spain and South America. DEKRA Personaldienste GmbH was able to further establish itself as one of the most successful personnel recruitment and transition firms in Germany.