Roeland Tjebbes joined Kramp as Chief Financial Officer in January 2024. Based on our financial performance in 2023, he sees a company that is in a strong position for structural and profitable growth.
“In 2023, we came very close to achieving our growth target as a percentage of turnover,” comments Roeland. “However, much of that growth came from price effects rather than from volume due to the impact of inflation in our markets. We also saw our dealer’s and customers’ markets come under pressure, particularly in the agricultural sector.”
Rising costs
The cost situation was not without its challenges. “The wage inflation and rising total personnel costs accounted for a significant part of the overall increase in our costs in 2023. A number of future-focused investment activities – such as e-commerce capabilities and internal improvements – further increased the costs. The threefold rise in interest rates had an impact on the bottom-line result,” he adds.
But there was also positive news from a cost perspective, according to Roeland. “We benefited e.g. from a decrease in the cost of packaging materials.”
Successful inventory management
“As a way of absorbing the inflation effects, we intensified our focus on cost control, particularly in terms of inventory management,” he explains. “Over the course of 2021 and 2022, our stocks had grown considerably due to the delayed delivery of orders placed during the previous period of shortages. But by the end of 2023 we had succeeded in reducing our total inventory by around 7% while actually improving our stock availability.”
As a result, our adjusted EBIT and adjusted EBITDA show a slight improvement on the 2022 results. “Our working capital also remains well balanced and in sync with the previous year. Given the market conditions, and even though we didn’t quite meet our own expectations, we are happy with both the topline and bottom line growth and our net profit,” states Roeland.
