It has now been eighteen months since Dr. Arno Haselhorst was appointed to the management team of the GG Group (Gebauer & Griller). This corporate group with global operations had decided to embark upon an active process of transformation in order to align the GG Group with the market’s future requirements and safeguard its long-term financial stability and profitability. The automotive industry remains in a transitional phase in terms of consumer preferences, new mobility concepts and technological innovations. To succeed in this environment, businesses require deep and resilient financial foundations so as to be able to deliver largely stable revenue, even in case of fluctuating sales and costs, and in order to finance their future growth.

With these objectives in mind, since the start of the GG Group’s process of transformation over 500 individual measures in every area of the business have been identified and gradually followed through on, with the aim of optimizing the effectiveness and efficiency of all of its operating processes and workflows. Following a satisfactory performance over the first six months of the past financial year 2023/2024, the result for the year as a whole now confirms the effectiveness of the steps taken: While the GG Group has not realized its predicted sales volume, it has achieved a stronger operating performance year-over-year.

GG Group Now on Stable Financial Footing

The Group has continued to improve all of its relevant key financial indicators and has significantly lowered its debt-to-equity ratio, including by means of a further significant reduction of its volume of working capital. The debt capital required for investments will thus be available on more favorable terms in the future – this will play a key role in the proactive development of all of the GG Group’s global locations and in the pursuit of its strategic objective of profitable mid- and long-term growth on the American market, backed by pre-financing available on a sustained basis.

Overall, this means that the goals envisaged for this process of transformation have been achieved ahead of its scheduled end in the financial year 2024/2025. “The financial stability thus established will enable GG to implement its currently envisaged investments and its ongoing footprint expansion measures in Ruse, Bulgaria, and San Juan del Río, Mexico, while at the same time already investing in lucrative strategic options for the future,” says Arno Haselhorst, who will now step down from his roles as the GG Group’s CEO, CFO and CRO on June 30, 2024. Adverse market trends such as the lack of economic momentum in Europe and the subdued trend in the field of electromobility have all been compensated for.

Holger Fastabend, who will take up the positions of CEO, CRO and CTO on July 1, 2024, adds: “Our current financial situation and the measures implemented provide us with strong foundations in order to pursue our strategic goals. We must now demonstrate continued staying power, hold the course and identify and leverage even further potential. With our portfolio, we are well placed to benefit from the mobility sector’s strong momentum – we will now maintain this impetus and thus achieve further success, including in the long term.”

Arno Haselhorst Will Continue to Serve GG in an Advisory Capacity

The GG Group now has a new and expanded management team in place for the next phase of its transformation process. Markus Ganahl (51), who joined the GG Group on February 1, 2024, will remain its COO. Markus Bode (50), previously Vice President Global Sales Account & Regional Customer Management and with GG since 2018, and Elke Vlach (46), previously Vice President Corporate Finance and with the company since 2015, will strengthen the company’s management team from July 1, 2024 through their new roles as CSO and CFO.

Duties and areas of responsibility will be handed over gradually and this process is already underway. Arno Haselhorst will remain available to serve the company in an advisory capacity. “On behalf of the shareholders of the GG Group, I would like to warmly thank Mr. Haselhorst for his professional commitment and for the successful start to our company’s transformation. On the basis of the results achieved and our improved target figures, we are confident of our ability to implement the next few steps together with our team. We trust in the new management team’s high level of competence and will offer them our full support in the continued pursuit of the company’s transformation plan,” says Nikolaus Griller, chairman of the GG Group’s shareholders’ committee.