Lectra announces 2012 results and “transformation plan”
17/05/2013
A breakdown of Lectra’s 2012 revenues shows that 28% of sales came from software, 26% from CAD CAM equipment, 23% from services and 23% from consumables. Almost half of all sales revenue, 47%, came from Europe, with 26% coming from the Americas, 21% from Asia-Pacific and 6% from other countries. Fashion accounted for 49% of sales, while 37% came from automotive, 7% from furniture and 7% from other industries.
Commenting on the 2012 results, chief executive, Daniel Harari, said 75% of the drop in revenue was down to investments Lectra made in 2012 in its longer-term future, which he described as the company’s transformation plan. Taking that into account, he said the results were “remarkable”.
Mr Harari said: “The fear factor caused our customers to rein in their investments, starting late 2011. With further worsening economic conditions, purchasing decisions remained on hold throughout the year. In the end, though, we succeeded in restricting the decline in orders for software licences and equipment to just 6%, by bolstering our value proposition, and thanks also to the performance of our sales teams. In addition, it seems that some companies have adapted more rapidly to persistently weaker conditions.”
He said there would be three main points of focus in Lectra’s transformation plan: bolstering our worldwide sales and marketing teams significantly, keeping innovation at the heart of the strategy, and accelerating investment in marketing.
But the Lectra chief executive also said the leather industry would be one of the company’s “growth accelerators” in the coming years thanks to the company’s “revolutionary” new ranges of automated cutters. “Our new ranges of automated cutters, Versalis for leather and Vector for fabrics, are without equal,” Mr Harari said.
Versalis, which the company launched in April 2012, is a technology package that includes a hide digitizer and scanner, a software suite for managing operations, and a comprehensive range of automated cutters adapted to all types of leather for leathergoods, furniture, and automotive interiors. The technology can be configured according to specific production models, measure hide quality before cutting, and manage complex shapes.
More than ever, rises in hide prices mean tanners and their customers need to make the most of their raw material, Lectra has argued, insisting that an investment in technology that helps them do this will provide quick pay-back.
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