Strategy and goals

 

Vision and mission

NORMA Group reformulated its vision and mission statement in fiscal year 2024.

“We join forces to provide superior solutions for a sustainable future.” This vision underlines the Group’s ambition to work together on innovative solutions for a sustainable future. The ability to adapt quickly and flexibly to changing customer requirements as well as economic and social conditions is a key success factor here.

With the mission “Driven by passionate collaboration and global excellence, we add value as the reliable partner for mission-critical solutions in Industry Applications, Water Management, Mobility & New Energy.” NORMA Group focuses on building trusting relationships with stakeholders as a reliable partner, promoting sustainability and resource efficiency with relevant mission-critical products and solutions and addressing current global megatrends. In this way, the Group supports sustainable transformation and further development in relevant markets.

The vision and mission are in line with the Group’s central objective: increasing value.

 

Increase in value

NORMA Group’s main strategic objective is achieving sustainable profitable growth for the Company. The Group aims to achieve profitability above the industry average and efficient use of Group 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. Accordingly, the principles of responsible corporate governance and sustainable action apply to all business decisions. Therefore, the Management Board regards Corporate Responsibility (CR) – NORMA Group’s responsibility vis-à-vis people and the environment – as an integral part of the Company’s strategy. Further information can be found in the CONSOLIDATED NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT, section SBM-1 - STRATEGY, BUSINESS MODEL AND VALUE CHAIN.

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 goal is to achieve a sustained increase in the Company’s value. Therefore, the focus 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 its product portfolio, expanding its regional presence and market position in the strategic end markets of Industry Applications, and Mobility & New Energy are at the core of NORMA Group’s growth strategy. The Water Management unit is also to be continued unchanged until a suitable buyer is found. 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.

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 overall 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. NORMA Group’s product strategy is also influenced by climate change and the growing density of environmental regulations in key industries. NORMA Group sees many opportunities in this to benefit from current global megatrends on the one hand and regulatory developments on the other. This includes the area of decarbonization. Related to this are developments in the area of the energy transition and the application field of alternative energy generation and storage. 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 Water Management strategic business unit and its extensive product portfolio for applications in landscape irrigation, storm water management and infrastructure solutions in the water sector, NORMA Group helps its customers to optimize their use of scarce resources. Innovations play an important role in meeting the increasing customer demands that accompany each new production cycle. NORMA Group therefore invests intensively and continuously in the development of new products and the optimization of existing processes and systems. 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 important part of its long-term growth strategy. NORMA Group continuously monitors developments in the strategic business units Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy and plans to contribute to their consolidation with targeted acquisitions. Since its IPO in 2011, the Group has acquired a total of 15 companies and integrated them into the Group. The main focus of M&A activities is 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. NORMA Group has built up an established market position in the fast-growing water industry since acquiring the US water specialist National Diversified Sales (NDS®) in fiscal year 2014. In the 2024 fiscal year, the acquisition of Teco laid the foundation for the expansion of regional business activities in the area of Water Management in Europe.

The management continuously reviews strategic options to increase the value of the Company. Great potential for profitable growth is seen in the Industry Applications area, in particular, both organically and through acquisitions. In this context, the Company concentrates on those potential target companies that either have a high degree of fit with the current established industrial business on the one hand and enable entry into new market segments relevant to the future on the other. Further information can be found in the next section.

 

Strategic growth initiatives

The decision announced on November 28, 2024, to focus NORMA Group’s business activities on its traditional core business of engineered joining products and to initiate the sales process for the global Water Management business activities supports the overarching strategic goal of value creation. The resources and capacities freed up by the sale will be used to expand the market position in the Industry Applications strategic business unit and to strengthen Mobility & New Energy.

NORMA Group continues to drive forward selected initiatives in the individual regions and strategic business units. In addition to the regional expansion of activities, the focus of business activities is also on entering new areas of application. This refers, among other things, to the examples in the sections RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT and PRODUCTS AND END MARKETS.

The specific growth initiatives of the business units in NORMA Group’s Group structure as of December 31, 2024 are as follows:

Industry Applications focuses on maximizing market opportunities and profitability by sharpening its offering. In particular, the focus here is on the transition from product supplier to solution provider, both in existing and new markets. The direct business with original equipment manufacturers and their specific needs for highly developed products and solutions will increasingly become the focus of business activities. The first steps in this direction were already successfully taken in the 2024 fiscal year. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS. The traditional retail segment, i.e. sales via sales representatives and wholesalers, will remain a key pillar during the planned transformation. This requires continued active portfolio management and a strategically oriented brand strategy. E-commerce initiatives are also to be strengthened, thereby consolidating the retail business. The targeted use of resources and capacities as well as flexible production facilities are crucial in order to specifically address the individual needs of the various customers in the Industry Applications strategic business unit and thus successively expand the division.

In the Water Management business unit, the focus is on significant growth in the global business, primarily by concentrating on the areas of stormwater management and landscape irrigation. The aim is to address both the private and commercial sectors in key markets worldwide. Global macro trends and the growing demand for product and solution expertise are having a supporting effect, not least due to increasing regulation worldwide. In addition to offering the established portfolio, the focus is therefore also on developing innovative solutions for the water industry. The aim is to offer not only ecological but also economic benefits for customers and their specific needs. The expansion and simultaneous increase in awareness of the brand business, which has so far been established primarily in Americas, must be considered an essential component: The launch of the NDS® brand as the flagship brand for Water Management solutions in the EMEA region in the fiscal year 2024 is a good example of this.

The activities of the Mobility & New Energy business unit are to be strengthened globally. This includes optimizing and improving positioning with regard to existing products on the market. NORMA Group is also positioning itself accordingly in order to flexibly counter the current market uncertainties and the resulting trends with appropriate measures. This requires a comprehensive understanding of constantly changing market requirements, but also

agility and flexibility in order to meet customer needs and expectations in a targeted manner. To this end, processes and procedures are constantly being further standardized and automated and innovation is being driven forward in line with customer expectations. The Group focuses on selected, high-margin businesses that meet the current and future requirements of its customers. Electromobility remains a key future market for NORMA Group, which the Company has been addressing for more than a decade. At the same time, the NORMA Group will seek to achieve and defend a leading market position in all regions by constantly improving its cost structures. NORMA Group therefore believes it is well positioned to benefit from future developments.

The achievement of the growth initiatives outlined here is actively supported by the “Step Up” program implemented in mid-2023.

 

Growth and efficiency program “Step Up”

NORMA Group established the “Step Up” growth and efficiency program in 2023. This is a program to continuously improve the operating business in terms of operational efficiency and productivity with a view to profitable growth. In particular, “Step Up” includes measures to implement growth plans in the strategically important Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy business units as well as in Water Management and to increase operational efficiency. In particular, resources – for example in research and development – should be deployed with the aim of achieving the best possible economic effect. The implementation of the individual measures contained therein is continuously monitored. The needs of customers are at the center of all activities.

The measures in the area of Operational Efficiency are aimed at further improving internal and external business processes and gearing them towards sustainable profitable growth. Among other things, the focus here is on improving processes. To this end, the IT systems are being further optimized and globally standardized, and complexities are being systematically reduced. NORMA Group wants to further improve its delivery capability while keeping inventories low and further shortening response times. To achieve these goals, especially in all functional areas of supply chain management (SCM), NORMA Group has started the SCM transformation and is working on improving delivery services for customers, lowering supply chain costs, especially for freight, and getting inventory levels right. To this end, the SCM organization is being further improved, employees are being trained and supported and material and information flows in the supply chain are being optimized.

NORMA Group was already able to achieve noticeable improvements in operating efficiency in fiscal year 2024. For example, supply chain management in the EMEA region was supported and stabilized, and processes were introduced to sustainably improve efficiency. Product availability and the delivery service for customers have improved. This positive development puts NORMA Group in a position to better support the sales of its products in the future. The issue of optimizing production processes is also essential given the objective of using resources in the production process to extract a high economic gain. The focus here is particularly on the automation of processes for production and internal material flow. In fiscal year 2024, work was also carried out to identify further potential for improvement. Based on this, a roadmap for automation processes in the areas of production and logistics was defined.

Growth plans for the three strategic business units are pooled under the Growth mantle. In doing so, the alignment in strategic business units is to be consistently implemented in the corporate organization and the business units are to be given more autonomy. This is to promote customer centricity while growth and investment decisions are to be made increasingly in the units. This allows opportunities to be seized more quickly and in a more targeted manner and customer requirements to be taken into account more specifically. In concrete terms, the plan is to generate stronger growth in the areas of Water Management and Industry Applications by gaining stable business. In the Mobility & New Energy area, NORMA Group focuses on seizing sales opportunities in the area of alternative drive systems, such as battery electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles, and meeting customer requirements for stricter emission regulations with innovative products.

In terms of growth, NORMA Group also succeeded in making progress in the strategically important Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy business units, as well as in Water Management in the past fiscal year:

The Industry Applications business unit expanded its sales channels in the fiscal year 2024 and increased the reach of its joining products through customized adaptations. Examples of this include an order from a household appliance manufacturer for individualized metal clamps for dishwashers and the use of metal clamps from NORMA Group in the cooling system of energy storage facilities in Germany. Another reference is the order from a

US DIY chain, which was concluded at the beginning of 2025 and is intended to drive NORMA Group’s consumer business and localization in the USA.

In the Water Management business unit, NORMA Group laid the foundation for the expansion of regional Water Management business activities in Europe by completing the acquisition of Teco Srl in spring 2024. NORMA Group will continue to drive the expansion of its activities in the EMEA region and thus increase the attractiveness of the division for potential interested parties.

Successes were also achieved with regenerative product applications in the Mobility & New Energy business unit in 2024. This includes, for example, an order to equip a new electric car platform in India with lightweight tubes for thermal management.

In the current reporting year, the Group also continued to work on identifying new sales potential. This also means that NORMA Group’s teams in the strategic business units also focus on alternative applications for products already established on the market in order to open up new product application areas. Research was also carried out into the reduction of flow resistance and new materials for fluid components. This is in line with NORMA Group’s commitment to always offer highly developed joining technologies tailored to the individual needs of the customer and in doing so gain (and retain) new customers RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.