WORLD – Danfoss have released their financial report for the first three quarters of 2015 which delivered good results for the Danish-based company. In the first nine months of 2015, Danfoss reported net sales at DKK 28,722m (approximately £2,700m) against DKK 25,704m (£2,417m) over the same period last year. This increase represents a 12% growth, and includes the additional sales accrued from the acquisition in the latter part of 2014of the Finnish drives manufacturer Vacon. The Danfoss Group announced that they had delivered a strong free cash flow before M&A at DKK 2,257m compared with DKK 2,090m in the previous year, while the group’s earnings (EBIT excluding other operating income/expenses) were slightly below the figures obtained last year.

The president & CEO of Danfoss, Niels B. Christiansen, commented on the statistics, saying “We deliver sustained good financial performance, and taking into account the current relatively harsh business environment in some of our markets our third quarter was satisfactory. Equally important, during the quarter we have successfully landed strategic acquisitions of innovative technologies within connectivity, big data, and automation, and we have strengthened our heating business and position in Turkey by acquiring a leading company within the district heating market.”

The group also outlined that it hoped to continue to grow their business by making other acquisitions to strengthen their position in the market. The drive to expand their business has seen Danfoss recently acquire two companies: DAF Energy, a key player within district energy in Turkey, and Advitronic Engineering B.V., operating within the areas of connectivity, Internet of Things and using big data from control systems in supermarkets, which is based in the Netherlands. September also saw Danfoss enter into partnership with the American software company LineStream Technologies Inc., which produces software-controlled solutions for the automation sector.

Mr Christiansen commented on this strategy of acquisitions, stating “A key part of our strategy to accelerate profitable growth is via acquisitions, and we continue to use our strong financial foundation to strengthen Danfoss by acquiring innovative technologies and businesses, thereby positioning our business segments to match global megatrends.”

The company reported that the need for energy efficiency and increased focus on climate-friendly solutions were strong drivers for Danfoss technologies and led to an improved performance in two business segments, namely Danfoss Cooling and Danfoss Drives. Conversely the Danfoss Power Solutions business segment continues report reduced sales, principally due to low activity levels in the global agricultural sector caused by relatively low food prices as well as lower construction activity in China. Finally, Danfoss Heating admitted that it had experienced a challenging year with lower sales and earnings which was tied in with the economic downturn in Russia; however, the company was confident that they would see an upturn in sales as we enter the heating season in Europe.