After a year of losses

Rosenbauer returns to the black

Rosenbauer is the world's leading supplier of firefighting equipment.

(Bild: Rosenbauer International)

"We have passed the low point," said Rosenbauer CEO Sebastian Wolf back in April 2023. Now the world's largest firefighting equipment supplier has put its money where its mouth is: According to the preliminary results for the previous year, the company returned to profit.

The operating result is 37.4 million euros and profit before taxes is 7.3 million euros - Rosenbauer presented these figures for 2023 on Friday. A return to the black - a very important step for the company based in Leonding (Upper Austria), which has experienced a lot of turbulence and crises in recent months.

Efficiency program launched in August 2022
Delayed deliveries of parts, which in turn delayed the completion of vehicles, higher costs, changes to the Executive Board, a cyberattack that brought production to a standstill for up to two weeks - all of this had shaken Rosenbauer to the core.

Although a self-imposed efficiency improvement program had an effect, it was not yet reflected in the figures in 2022. As a result, CEO Sebastian Wolf had to report a double-digit loss.

Now the worst seems to be over. The internal improvements and higher sales prices for the vehicles delivered have allowed the company to return to profit. Turnover also increased last year - from 972.2 million euros to 1.064 billion euros.

New Chief Technology Officer to start in March
An open personnel issue has also been resolved: Thomas Biringer, most recently on the management board of commercial vehicle specialist Schwarzmüller, will become interim Chief Technology Officer at Rosenbauer from March 11. The position has been vacant since the departure of Daniel Tomaschko in mid-January. Responsibility for technology currently lies with CEO Wolf.