2011/12 Zumtobel Group Annual Report Now Available

One of the determining factors for the 2011/12 financial year was the continuing shift to LED technology and intelligent lighting management. The lighting segments including Thorn and Zumtobel revenues rose by a sound 9.2 per cent to EUR949.2 million and the growth in the LED business was even more dynamic than expected.
We are seeing important impulses, above all, from the growing focus on energy efficiency because LEDs are significantly more energy efficient and long-lasting than conventional lighting sources and, in combination with intelligent light management, create an added potential for energy savings.
However, LED technology also gives rise to entirely new perspectives for the quality of light. LED is the first light source with a threefold capability for change – in intensity, colour and beam spread.We are now also able to offer consumers innovative LEDs that can be dimmed and, at the same time, adjusted to emit warmer white light.

Over the past two years, the Zumtobel Group has made substantial investments in new products and the expansion of our sales structures and production capacity to create the basis for global growth in these dynamic times. Expenditures for research and development have nearly doubled to EUR 69.8 million in five years. Most of these funds – approximately 70% – were spent on LED innovations in 2011/12. Revenues from the sale of LED products roseby an impressive 82.6% to EUR 183.2 million during that year.

Thorn in particular continued to strengthen its position as a globally trusted supplier of both outdoor and indoor luminaires and integrated controls. The rewards of our sustained mission to provide products and services that make it easier for customers to specify, install and maintain good quality, energy efficient lighting were clear with both turnover and profit greater than 2010/11 and very much in line with the growth plans laid in the previous year.

Against the backdrop of LED colour changing technology, the well-known Indian-British artist Anish Kapoor agreed to develop the artistic design for the 21st Annual Report. Anish Kapoor has used the medium light to illustrate the power of colour and its effects on the observer, above all as the process of a very subtle change. Light and colour, perception and emotion are inseparably connected, and today we have reached a point where, thanks to innovative technologies, we can also use the effects of light, colour and change in artificial light for the benefit of people and the environment.

To download the Annual Report from the Zumtobel website, please go to http://www.zumtobelgroup.com/en/annual_reports.htm