News

All three divisions with higher business volume and profits +++ broad-based geographical growth +++ Target EBIT margin range increased to 9–12%.

HERISAU. HUBER+SUHNER has decided to move out of its FAKRA radio frequency connectors business for the automotive industry, and has therefore sold this activity to Rosenberger. Rosenberger will take over equipment and patents from HUBER+SUHNER for manufacturing this product line, which generated revenues in the single-digit million range last year. This move will have no effect on staffing at HUBER+SUHNER. The contract was signed yesterday, 7th July, and Rosenberger will take over the business with effect from 1st August 2010. The parties have agreed that the sale price will not be made public.

40 Gbps multicoax solution for high speed digital testing

The Australian railway manufacturer Downer EDI Rail has chosen HUBER+SUHNER as its cable supplier for the new suburban passenger trains in Sydney. Over the next three to four years, HUBER+SUHNER will supply products from all three of its technologies – radio frequency, fiber optics, and low frequency – worth around CHF 40 million.

With its very robust design and excellent electrical performance our new SENCITY®RFID forklift antenna is first choice for customized RFID solutions.

The 41st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of HUBER+SUHNER AG took place yesterday, Wednesday 21st April 2010, in the Casino at Herisau.

HUBER+SUHNER was able to hold its ground and achieved respectable overall results in the 2009 reporting period.

Up to now, at HUBER+SUHNER many different tasks have been managed under the roof of the ‘Corporate Development+Communication’ department. The executive management has now decided to make Business Development the main focus of this staff department.

Outdoor fit SENCITY® Antenna with omni-directional characteristics and dual-slant ±45° polarization. The antenna is designed for ambitious WiFi wireless connectivity solutions.

Our SENCITY® antenna family is growing! The new SENCITY® MIMO antennas are compliant with the IEEE 802.11n standard and designed for powering innovative, high throughput WiFi connectivity solutions.

The HUBER+SUHNER Group, which is active in the field of electrical and optical connectivity, recorded overall respectable results for the 2009 business year, despite the rather turbulent market environment. Although the business weakened markedly with a decline in net sales of 17% to around CHF 630 million and a drop in order intake of 14% to around CHF 649 million, both order intake and net sales during the second half of the year exceeded the corresponding levels of the first six months – contrary to the general trend. The company’s profitability also improved compared with the first half year of 2009, as the lower cost base had a positive impact on earning power already.

With the new LC-HQ(high quality) push-pull connector it’s now possible to combine ease of installation with optimum packing density.

November 2009 – Additional IRIS certification recognizes HUBER+SUHNER AG compliance with international standards, broadening market opportunities and highlighting HUBER+SUHNER’s offering for the rail sector. HUBER+SUHNER have been awarded a certificate of compliance with International Railway Industry Standards (IRIS Certification) for its railway cable system products. The certification was awarded to HUBER+SUHNER railway cable system / Pfaeffikon, HUBER+SUHNER’s center of excellence specializing in cable systems for the rail sector.

Hermetic is Greek. It means impenetrable, barred, air and watertight, etc. The heart of a „hermetic“ connector is a glass-seal. This is a center contact as well as a metal ring, which are separated and isolated by melted glass. The glass-seal is soldered into connector body and it is sealing the connector internally.

The volume of business transacted by HUBER+SUHNER in the third quarter stabilised at the level of the first half year, despite the fact that the summer months are normally weaker. After nine months, the company’s cumulative net sales amounted to CHF 471.1 million and are thus 20% lower than in the previous year (CHF 586.3 million). Expressed in terms of constant exchange rates and copper prices, the decline in net sales amounted to 14%. On the other hand, order intake increased slightly during the third quarter, thanks to a pleasing dynamic trend in the Low Frequency Division. The shortfall compared with the previous year decreased to 19% (CHF 485.3 million compared with CHF 600.4 million in the previous year). However, it would be premature to speak of a trend reversal. Meanwhile, the cost savings measures introduced have proven effective, with HUBER+SUHNER anticipating a somewhat better EBIT margin for the second half year over the first half of 2009.

The HUBER+SUHNER RF connectors portfolio also includes reverse polarity connectors, adaptors and terminations applicable in radio links.

When His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vicepresident und Primerminister of the Arabian Emirates and ruler of Dubai on September 9, 2009, at 9.09 pm, opened the first stage of the big Dubai Metro project, it was the opening of the longest remote-controlled railway in the world. An important day also for HUBER+SUHNER Dubai.

SENCITY®SPOT-S a new small planar-antenna generation, provides high performance for WiFi network solutions even under harshest environmental conditions.

Diversification has a stabilising effect – Cost basis adjusted – Lower but acceptable earnings level – Positive free cash flow – Overall flat development expected in the second half of 2009

Exclusive compatibility to Tyco Electronics and Radiall ensures quality and availability.

Due to the continuing economic downturn, the company is currently considering reducing around 70 jobs in Switzerland and a further 80 worldwide. The job reduction in Switzerland will mainly affect the Herisau plant. The Group currently employs approximately 3.500 people worldwide, 1.500 of them at the Swiss headquarters in Herisau and Pfäffikon.

On 21 January 2009, a number of Swiss companies received awards from the European Association for the Promotion of Health (A.E.P.S.) for specific measures in the field of corporate health at a ceremony in Interlaken. The first of the Swiss awards went to the connectivity solutions company HUBER+SUHNER based in Herisau and Pfäffikon, ahead of the Nationale Suisse of Basle, Geneva’s university hospital, and Nestlé.
At the elimination process for the corresponding European-level price in Luxembourg last Wednesday, HUBER+SUHNER was awarded second place as the representative for Switzerland with its ‘in balance’ programme, behind Luxembourg and ahead of Italy. The prices were awarded by the health minister of the host country Luxembourg, Mars di Bartolomeo. When judging the health programmes, the jury rated the following three aspects especially highly: originality, sustainability and global outreach.

Heute mittag fand im Pfäffiker Industrieareal Witzberg der offizielle Spatenstich für das neue Kunststoff-Mischwerk der HUBER+SUHNER Gruppe statt. Für den Ausbau und die Modernisierung seiner Kabelproduktion investiert der Spezialist für elektrische und optische Verbindungstechnik knapp CHF 30 Mio.

The 40th Annual General Shareholders' Meeting of HUBER+SUHNER AG for fiscal 2008 took place yesterday, 22 April 2009, on the premises of the Pfäffikon plant. The shareholders approved all the resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors.

The year 2008 seamlessly extended the positive business development that HUBER+SUHNER has built up over several years.

ADC KRONE and the HUBER+SUHNER Group announced at this year's FTTH Council Europe, February 11-12, in Copenhagen, a joint marketing and sales initiative to position ADC's innovative LX.5 fibre connectors as alternatives to traditional small-form-factor (SFF) fibre connectors.

For personal reasons and in consultation with corporate management, Dr Hanspeter Bär, Head of the Radio Frequency Division (RF), has decided to stand down from his current position and to retire from the Group’s Executive management as of 1 September 2009. Dr Bär will take up the position and responsibility for development within the Radio Frequency Division’s management team.

Due to a noticeable drop in orders since November 2008 and the generally bleak economic global outlook for 2009, HUBER+SUHNER is having to cut about 100 of an approximate 3,500 jobs worldwide.
Most of the jobs will go through staff turnover and retirement but some redundancies, unfortunately, can not be avoided.
Approximately 25 redundancies will be in Switzerland.
As of today short working time will also be introduced in certain production areas. This will initially affect only 60 employees but there are plans to extend short working time to other sectors as of March 09.
The Radio Frequency division, which has been stagnating for two years will be particularly affected by the measures.
The Fiber Optics division continues to record a high volume of business and despite falling orders, especially in the automotive sector, the Low Frequency division is still recording good capacity utilisation in almost all sectors.

The new corporate movie introduces the HUBER+SUHNER Group in 6 minutes and 45 seconds, to as broad a target audience as possible:

In the business year 2008, the electrical and optical connectivity specialist HUBER+SUHNER again succeeded in outperforming its previous year’s sales, despite negative currency effects and the divestment of a non-core business unit. However, order intake weakened during the fourth quarter and for this reason the overall volume ended up slightly below the one achieved in the previous year.
Sales rose from CHF 732 million to approximately CHF 760 million, corresponding exactly to the company’s forecast. The growth rate amounted to 4%; in the continued business, to 6%. Order intake was down by approximately 4%, totalling CHF 755 million (CHF 784 million in the previous year).

Swisscom, the Swiss telecommunications company, is opting for HUBER+SUHNER products and systems for the provision of fiber optics to households. Over the coming years, the global specialist in electrical and optical connectivity based in Pfäffikon and Herisau, Switzerland, will supply fiber management systems for local exchanges to the Swiss market leader.

Enlarged product range of waterproof QMA connectors.

In the third quarter of 2008, sales and order intake again exceeded the corresponding figures of the previous year. The 9-month cumulative sales were up 14% in local currency terms. Currency effects and portfolio adjustments reduced the growth rate reported in Swiss francs to 7%. Sales totalled CHF 586.3 million; order intake, at CHF 600.4 million, was slightly above the figure of the corresponding period in the previous year (CHF 598.8 million). Discounting the currency effects, order intake increased organically by 7%.

The Q-ODC push-pull connector sets a new standard for harsh environment connectivity. It is the smallest and most robust design in its class and has an outstanding coupling mechanism. The push-pull mechanism allows easy and fast installation while at the same time it provides highest installation safety since only two defined mating states are possible – either mated or unmated – nothing else.

Considerable rise in sales and EBIT – financial result impacted by currency effects
In the first half of 2008 HUBER+SUHNER posted again significantly higher results, expanding its position particularly in the low frequency technology business and fiber optics and recording above average growth rates in the railway, automotive and solar energy market seg-ments. With sales up 13.8% in local currency terms, HUBER+SUHNER remained on track for solid growth. Currency effects and portfolio ad-justments reduced the growth rate reported in Swiss francs to 6.6% compared to the first half of 2007. While sales totalled CHF 386.9 mil-lion, operating profit (EBIT) rose by a pleasing 14.3% to CHF 53.5 mil-lion, resulting in an EBIT margin of 13.8%.
Mainly due to the recalculation of balance sheet positions in foreign currencies, the company recorded currency losses of approximately CHF 10 million compared to currency gains of around CHF 5 million in the previous-year period. As a result, the net income was slightly lo-wer despite the higher operating profit. At CHF 35.6 million, after-tax earnings were CHF 6.7 million lower year-on-year. HUBER+SUHNER expects to close 2008 with sales in the order of CHF 760 million and a further increase in operating profit compared to 2007.

Switching between channels is now easier than ever before. The new RF Power Switch Portfolio from HUBER+SUHNER promises best benefits for customers: RF Power Switch components are small, reliable, powerful, easy to handle, require little maintenance and are therefore cost-effective to use.

Vom 21. Juli bis 2. August 2008 findet in der Linthebene das Bundeslager der Pfadibewegung Schweiz mit 25'000 Teilnehmern statt. Für das IT-Netzwerk, welches die acht Unterlager verbindet und über das diverse Services laufen, stellt HUBER+SUHNER die Komponenten unentgeltlich zur Verfügung. Insbesondere kommt auch die neue und innovative Funkverbindung SL60 zum Einsatz.

This press release has been sent out today:
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, has chosen HUBER+SUHNER as its partner for supplying connectivity systems. Over the next two to three years, the Swiss company HUBER+SUHNER, which specialises in electrical and optical connectivity solutions, will supply specific junction boxes, cables and connectors to Suntech. The total contract is worth CHF 75 million.