Strategy and goals

 

Increase in value

NORMA Group’s main strategic objective is achieving sustainable profitable growth for the company. Building on its many years of successful entrepreneurial development, the company continues to strive for profitability above the industry average and an efficient use of the Group’s capital. On its way to achieving these goals, NORMA Group pursues a stakeholder-oriented approach. This is based on the expectations of customers with regard to innovative, reliable and value-creating solutions as well as on the financial interests of shareholders, the needs of

the workforce and the concerns of suppliers. A motivated, competent and loyal workforce is a fundamental prerequisite for meeting the diverse requirements of external stakeholders. To this end, NORMA Group strives to offer its employees an environment geared towards continuous growth, thus underpinning its position as an attractive employer. At the same time, NORMA Group considers it an integral part of its corporate responsibility to reconcile the effects of its business activities with the expectations and needs of society. Therefore, the principles of responsible corporate governance and sustainable action are observed in all entrepreneurial decisions. Corporate Responsibility (CR), NORMA Group’s responsibility towards people and the environment, is therefore seen by the Management Board as an integral part of the company strategy.  CR REPORT

NORMA Group’s strategy for long-term value enhancement is based on the following key objectives and strategic measures:

 

Profitable growth

NORMA Group’s primary objective is to increase the value of the company. Therefore, the focus in each regional segment is on the continuous profitable expansion of business activities. By continuously expanding application solutions for existing customers and identifying and acquiring new customers, business activities are being steadily expanded, thus increasingly strengthening its international presence. Making selective additions to the product portfolio, the expansion of the regional presence and the expansion of the market position in the strategic fields of Water Management (Water), Industry Applications as well as Mobility and New Energy are at the core of NORMA Group’s growth strategy. In identifying its business areas, NORMA Group focuses on markets with attractive margins, sophisticated products, strongly growing sales potential and a fragmented competitive structure. Global megatrends such as climate change are increasing the need for low-emission technologies. The increasing scarcity of resources offers NORMA Group attractive growth potential, especially for its water business.

 

Selective product portfolio

The technological requirements for NORMA Group’s end products are constantly changing. Increasing environmental awareness, scarcity of resources and growing cost pressure – further intensified by the massive rise in energy costs – play a major role in nearly every sector of industry. Furthermore, there are binding legislative requirements that are becoming more stringent, particularly in the automotive and commercial vehicle industries, due to stricter emission regulations or special requirements for the materials used. This is also accompanied by increasing technological change, away from conventional combustion engines towards alternative drive technologies such as hybrid, electric and hydrogen drives.  LEGAL AND REGULATORY INFLUENCING ASPECTS These framework conditions form the starting point for the development of new products. NORMA Group focuses on value-enhancing solutions that help its customers to reduce emissions, leakage, weight, space and assembly time. One main focus here is also on the area of thermal management for vehicles.  RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT With its strategic business field of water management and its extensive product portfolio for applications in landscape irrigation, rainwater management and infrastructure solutions in the water sector, NORMA Group supports its customers in optimizing their use of scarce resources. Innovations play an important role in meeting the increasing customer demands that accompany each new production cycle. This is why NORMA Group’s more than 300 engineers and developers are constantly working on developing new products and optimizing the processes and systems currently in use. In order to sustainably strengthen its innovative capability, the Group plans to spend around 3% of its sales on research and development activities each year. R&D expenditure mainly relates to developments in the areas of Mobility and New Energy and accounts for around 5% of sales in these areas. Nevertheless, as the Water Management field becomes increasingly important and more of a strategic focus, R&D activities are also being stepped up in this area. For this reason, NORMA Group includes these activities in the calculation of R&D expenses from reporting year 2020 on and uses total sales as a reference value to determine the R&D ratio.  RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

 

Selective acquisitions to supplement organic growth

By making targeted acquisitions, NORMA Group contributes to strengthening its growth and expanding its business. Acquisitions are therefore an integral part of the long-term growth strategy. The company continuously monitors developments in the strategic business units Water Management, Industry Applications, Mobility and New Energy and contributes to their consolidation through targeted acquisitions. Since its IPO in 2011, the Group has acquired a total of 14 companies and integrated them into the Group. The main focus of M&A activities is always on companies that contribute to realizing NORMA Group’s strategic goals, strengthening its competitive position and/or generate synergies. Continued growth and high profitability also play an important role here. The search for attractive companies focuses on the water management and automotive sectors. Since acquiring the US company National Diversified Sales (NDS) in fiscal year 2014, NORMA Group has built up an established market position in the fast-growing water industry, which is to be expanded through further acquisitions in this area.

 

Strategic and regional growth initiatives

In order to achieve the goals anchored in its strategy, NORMA Group is driving specific initiatives in the various regions and strategic business fields. These include, in particular, the concerted expansion of the water business in all regions. The activities that are already underway in the area of water management in the Americas are to be strengthened by further expanding the online and e-commerce channels. To expand the water business in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions, the current structures will be used to advance business development organically or complete value-enhancing acquisitions.

In the area of Industry Applications, the focus is on active portfolio management and a targeted brand strategy. In this area of the business as well, e-commerce initiatives are to be strengthened, particularly in the EMEA region. By localizing production even further, selectively expanding the product range and focusing on fast-growing markets, the industrial business in Asia-Pacific is to be further expanded and at the same time made to be even more profitable.

NORMA Group also intends to further expand its activities in the Mobility and New Energy sectors globally. Here, the company will focus on strategic and profitable applications that optimally meet the current and future requirements of its customers. At the same time, NORMA will seek to defend its primary market position in all regions by constantly improving its cost structures.