DECEMBER 2017 | 15
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
MORE LIGHT THAN
SHADE IN 2018
Roto Group increased its performance,
competitiveness and sustainability
in 2017 - and is expecting ‘good
opportunities’ for 2018, according
to its chairman Dr Eckhard Keill.
At the group’s 12th Interna-
tional Trade Press Day in Stuttgart,
Germany, Dr Keill anticipated
‘slightly prospering markets’ in
2018 with a turnover increase of
between 3-5% for the group.
He predicted a total turnover for
Roto of around 630 million euros,
saying that the international con-
struction industry was in ‘slightly
better shape’ for the first time in
years.
Construction was proving to be
the mainstay of general econom-
ic growth in China, the upswing
in the USA was continuing, and
in Canada, the recovery of the
industry was much better than
predicted after two weak years.
For Latin America, there was a
renewed positive trend in Argenti-
na in contrast with a construction
industry that was slowing in Brazil
and Mexico.
In Europe, the slight upwards
trend was likely to pick up speed.
The Euroconstruct research net-
work was expecting an average
construction growth of 3% for its
19 member countries. In residen-
tial construction, Hungary and
Ireland ranked highest while the
UK, Austria, Germany, Finland and
Switzerland were at the lower end
of the scale. However, increas-
ingly high prices for residential
properties posed a risk to future
demand.
Political risks
For international window and
door markets, 2017 had been a
year of stabilisation and consolida-
tion. However, the risk of ‘eco-
nomic policies getting in the way’
was worrying, with concerns such
as fluctuating interest rates and
extreme foreign policy changes
from Russia to Turkey and all the
way to Africa.
Former vice president of the
European Parliament, Alexander
Graf Lambsdorff, told assembled
journalists that what mattered in
these uncertain times was ‘putting
Europe back on track.’ He said he
felt ‘extraordinary regret’ over the
exit of the UK from the European
Union but this ‘definitively’ did not
signal the end of the EU.
High level of capital
investments
Roto’s chief financial officer
Michael Stangier reported that the
group had made extensive capital
investments. As part of a mul-
ti-year programme, just under 30
million euros had been invested
in three focal points. These were a
fully modernised logistics centre at
the window and door division, a
new roof and solar technology in-
novation centre, and the new Roto
NX Tilt&Turn hardware system.
A targeted acquisition strategy
had also served to consistently
improve performance, competitive-
ness and sustainability.
Quotations for zinc
‘ had
almost doubled
since 2016 ’
However, there was ‘extreme
pressure on revenue’ in the win-
dow and door technology division,
based on a dramatic increase in
the price of raw materials with
a lack of availability at the same
time. Quotations for zinc had
almost doubled since the begin-
ning of 2016, while increases for
aluminium and steel were around
40% each.
Roto was unable to continue off-
setting these ‘exploding costs,’ said
Dr Eckhard Keill, and would have
to ‘adapt prices significantly.’
Dr Eckhard Keill
New
Tilt&Turn
benchmark
Roto announced that it would
offer window manufacturers and
installation companies Roto NX, a
new Tilt&Turn hardware system
for windows and balcony doors,
from the beginning of 2018. The
new range would set standards of
efficiency, security, comfort and
design.
The company’s Roto NT
Tilt&Turn range, premiered at the
turn of the millennium, currently
comprises almost 6,000 items.
Around half a billion Turn-Only/
Tilt&Turn sets have been sold in
55 countries since the company
was founded. Important market
launches had included, at the end
of 2016, the Patio Alversa univer-
sal parallel sliding and Tilt&Slide
system.
On the roofing side, Dr Keill
referred to the Roto Q roof
window generation. The easy-to-
install product received a positive
response. In 2018, Roto is launch-
ing additional products including
the roof window Roto Designo R8
Quadro. It will be presented for
the first time at the Dach + Holz
trade fair in February in Cologne.
Future added value
and the Smart Home
Roto is continuously expanding
its range of future-oriented, Smart
Home-compatible components
with added value, according to
Hartmut Schmidt, director of
product innovation in the window
and door technology division.
Electronic door closers from the
Safe E Eneo series and the E-Tec
Drive concealed electric window
openers were examples that were
already successful.
A further example was the
burglar deterring TiltSafe function
of the new Roto NX Tilt&Turn
Hardware system.
Living with technology will
become the norm but not
everything that was technically
feasible was actually useful to
customers. There was a ‘dark side’
to the Smart Home concept, in-
cluding lack of uniform standards,
as well as unauthorised access by
hackers, and a lack of software
applications due to obsolescence
or likely system failures in house-
hold products.
Windows and doors were not
the driving force behind Smart
Home solutions but must instead
be able to work with any sys-
tems.