Vossloh Kiepe's quiet and clean trolleybuses for the Olympics
Easily positive EBIT / Tall order backlogSpecializing in the development, production, and assembly of urban transit systems, Düsseldorf-based Vossloh Kiepe GmbH predicts sales of around €105 million for 2003 (about the same as in the previous year). "EBIT, which last year was in the red, we are pleased to see is now well in the black," commented Vossloh AG's CEO Burkhard Schuchmann at the press conference in Düsseldorf. Thanks to a number of remarkable contracts acquired over the past months by this company which was taken over last fall by Vossloh, plus awards pending over the weeks ahead, Vossloh Kiepe is expecting by year-end an order backlog in the region of €300 million (up from €185 million at the start of 2003).
The focal business of this group, which employs a workforce of some 530, is electrical equipment for trams and trolleybuses, the latter enjoying a worldwide renaissance. "When the 2004 Olympics open in Athens and following an order for a further 142 in late 2002, over 250 of the city's trolleybuses fitted with our electrical systems will be contributing toward environment-friendly public transport," emphasized Vossloh Kiepe's General Manager Jürgen Textor. "We are very busy impressing other cities with the advantages of the trolleybus mode of transportation and are shortly expecting go-aheads from other Olympic locations, too," states Textor.
He added that the Company had intended "right from the start to position itself with a broad product range as market leader in tram air conditioning systems." Contracts were concluded with Siemens and Bombardier for such systems in the vehicles built by these companies. "We expect that in future new trams without air conditioning will be a rarity. Moreover, there is also a repeated wish to have older existing vehicles retrofitted with such systems," he went on to say.
Werdohl/Düsseldorf, October 23, 2003
For more information contact:
Christiane Konrad, Vossloh AG, phone: (+49-2392) 52-263