Bosch targets 3% to 5% sales growth in 2016

Following a record year in 2015, Bosch is aiming for 3 to 5 percent sales growth in 2016. Despite a subdued economic outlook and geopolitical uncertainty, the supplier of technology and services intends to continue growing faster than the company's key markets. If the first quarter's slowdown continues in certain regions and markets, sales growth will be at the lower end of the forecast scale.

In the subdued market environment of the first quarter of 2016, Bosch saw a year-on-year (YoY) sales increase of just under 3 percent, or roughly 4 percent after adjusting for exchange-rate effects. This growth was achieved despite the very strong nominal growth of the first quarter of 2015.

Dr Volkmar Denner, the chairman of the Bosch board of management commented on the growth plan, “We plan to grow not only with innovative products, but also with innovative services. We are increasingly using connected services to build on our broad basis in the hardware business. In the future, customers will not only come across Bosch in their cars and kitchens. Connected services will make it a constant companion in many aspects of their daily lives.”

In 2015, the Bosch Group had recorded sales of over 70 billion euros (Rs 535,080 crore) for the first time. The company’s revenue had increased approximately 10 percent compared to the previous year. Further, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to around 5 billion euros (Rs 38,220 crore). Adjusted for extraordinary effects, earnings totaled roughly 4.5 billion euros (Rs 34,398 crore). The EBIT margin went up 6.5 percent, which was higher than the previous year when calculated on a comparable basis. The full acquisition of two former 50-50 joint ventures, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH and Robert Bosch Automotive Steering GmbH, pushed sales up by almost 22 billion euros (Rs 165,700 crore), or 44 percent.