Dussmann Group annual figures 2018: Strong, profitable growth and new company division DTS

16.05.2019 — In 2018, total sales for all Dussmann Group company divisions in 17 countries increased by 5.3 percent to 2.34 billion Euros // Implementation of strategy program Dussmann Next Level makes good progress // Concentration on profitable growth and expansion of technical expertise with Duss-mann Technical Solutions (DTS) // The number of employees of the family enterprise grows by around 1800 to 66.122 worldwide

The Dussmann Group, a global multi-service provider reports continued success: In 2018, total sales showed a significant increase of 5.3 percent exceeding the goal of 5 percent. Total sales for all company divisions in 17 countries was 2.34 billion Euros (previous year: 4.4 percent/ 2.22 billion Euros). Growth was largely organic due to major new facility management (FM) contracts in Italy, Austria, Eastern Europe and Luxemburg. In addition, two acquisitions were made in Italy - the caterer Alessio and the technical services specialist Gaetano Paolin. EBITDA rose to 6.2 percent.

At the annual press conference, board of trustees chairwoman Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann reported: “Our strong core business, soft services, is now complemented by a new section, Dussmann Technical Solutions or DTS. The seeds that we sowed in 2018 with the company strategy Dussmann Next Level are already bearing fruit. We are reinventing our FM division with strong expansion of our technical expertise. In this context, we are finalizing the acquisition of a company” she continued. “A huge step forward” confirmed Dr. Wolfgang Häfele, Dussmann Group executive board spokesman. “DTS will serve as the platform on which we concentrate technical engineering services - those which we already provide in self-delivery today, that is refrigeration and air-conditioning with DKA and elevator systems with HEBO, and those which we will provide in the future. DTS will reinforce the typical Dussmann approach to integrated FM. Implementation of Dussmann Next Level is progressing through concentration on profitable growth and strategic acquisitions such as those made in Italy in 2018 and the current pending acquisition. We are presently examining further acquisitions and plan a significant increase in technical sales” continued Dr. Wolfgang Häfele.

In future, Dussmann plans to serve the market with two business units. Dussmann Service will remain the largest section with the service divisions cleaning, security, technical and catering (soft services). It is now complemented by a second business unit, Dussmann Technical Solutions (hard services).

The Dussmann Group is optimistic that current trends will continue and that organic growth will extend into 2019.

In October 2018, Dussmann Service acquired 70 percent of shares in the company Gaetano Paolin S.p.A. 30 percent remains in the hands of Roberto Paolin, a fourth generation descendant of the company founder. The company was founded in Padua by Gaetano Paolin in 1904. From northern Italy to Rome it constructs and installs air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration and heating systems. The company also provides servicing and after-sales services, offers treatment, filtration and distribution systems for air and water and monitors building automation control systems.

After acquiring two central production kitchens from the family enterprise Alessio Ristorazione Srl in March 2018, Dussmann Service Italy added Cook & Chill catering to its service portfolio for additional target groups. In 2018 Dussmann Service served 36 Million meals across Italy.

The Dussmann Group as an employer
They cater to ministry employees and to hospital patients, apply their technical expertise to ensure that technical systems in real estate run reliably and clean offices and schools. They are friendly park attendants in Berlin, they provide nursing and care to seniors at Kursana, they look after children at KulturKindergarten child-care facilities and they recommend the book that best fits your needs at KulturKaufhaus. The number of Dussmann Group employees worldwide rose to the record level of 66,122 in 2018.

Further strategic and sales successes
In 2018, the Dussmann Group achieved further strategic goals detailed in the program Dussmann Next Level; core optimization, growth, employer of choice and deployment of new technologies. German FM operations were realigned both in terms of structure and content in order to strengthen market presence, to intensify and broaden value creation and to drive growth in domestic markets. Our objective is to consolidate our position as a first generation outsourcing partnerwinning new clients who are outsourcing their services for the first time. We provide integrated FM services close to clients’ core activities and support them by creating added value. The founding of DTS is another step towards achieving this goal in the coming years.

Many major new FM contracts were won by all service divisions in 2018 and in the first months of 2019. In the FM division, over 90 percent of sales is already in the Dussmann books as per April 2019.

Last year Dussmann Service Germany started FM operations on 15 sites across the country for Oracle Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG. The FM package includes technical management and maintenance of technical systems and janitorial services. Another countrywide operation provides services for the federal employment agency on 250 sites in nine federal states. A contract with LBBW Immobilien Asset Management to provide integrated FM at 17 facilities in the state capital of Stuttgart started recently. The scope of services includes servicing, inspection and maintenance of technical systems, energy management, maintenance cleaning, security, gardening and grounds care.

The existing partnership between Dussmann Service and its longstanding client IKEA was extended in April to include the site in Erfurt where maintenance cleaning of sales and cash desk areas, restaurants and the production kitchen is carried out. Dussmann Service has been working for the IKEA logistics center in Dortmund since 2011 and in 2018, the contract was expanded to include the facility in Kaarst.

In July, Dussmann Service started catering at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe GmbH (FAIR GmbH) in Darmstadt including staff catering operations, guest and conference services, a coffee bar/ cafeteria and construction site catering.

2018 was an especially successful year at Dussmann Service Italy. Dussmann caterers serve meals to pupils in the municipalities of Florence and Civitavecchia, to staff and patients at the Valcamonica and Valtellina e Alto Lario hospitals in Lombardy and most recently, to Polizia di Stato police personnel in all of Central Italy. Five regional airports are among the new cleaning clients:  Milano Malpensa & Linate, Milano Orio al Serio, Brescia and Verona.

2018 was a good business year at Dussmann Service Austria which won a large portion of the cleaning operations tendered by Austrian Rail ÖBB which represents one of the biggest contracts in the Dussmann world. For the next five years, Dussmann cleaning operatives will be responsible for 1,300 buildings. Longstanding clients such as Kelag retendered services and chose to remain with Dussmann Service. Numerous new contracts included those with the TGW Logistics Group, Greiner Bio-One and for operation of the Bistro ReFresh! in the Austrian national library. Each day, Dussmann Service personnel in Austria clean around 2.6 million square meters. Each year 2.9 million guests are served in Dussmann Service restaurants in Austria.

Dussmann Service Hungary, the company’s fifth largest international subsidiary, won contracts with global players. These include Thyssenkrupp, an innovative manufacturer in the automobile industry where Dussmann cleans around 18,000 square meters on production sites and provides 1,500 hours of security services each month. Carrier is the world’s leading provider of heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions where Dussmann operatives are responsible for cleaning and security services including gate services, reception, patrols, monitoring of fire alarm systems, cleaning of production and exterior areas, gardening and waste management.

In the United Arab Emirates, a major new contract for technical FM with a leading developer in the region was made.

New facilities at Care & Kids
The company division Care & Kids (Kursana and Dussmann KulturKindergarten) saw a number of positive developments in 2018. In Hamminkeln, North-Rhine Westfalia, a new Kursana facility welcomed its first residents in February 2019. Like all newly constructed Kursana facilities, accommodation consists exclusively of single rooms arranged into small residential groups. The aim is to provide residents with as much independence and self-determination as possible in a safe environment. The group lives together as a family but residents can withdraw into their own rooms at any time.

In 2018, the first Dussmann KulturKindergarten after-school care facility was opened in Wittenberg. It is the company’s ninth facility. This extends the range of child-care provided by Dussmann educators, until recently limited to children under school-age, to school pupils.

Care & Kids has also set the course for further growth and the acquisition of out-patient care services is not unlikely. Three new Kursana facilities are currently under construction or in the planning phase. These include Domizil facilities in Oberhausen, North-Rhine Westphalia with 80 single rooms and in Eschenburg, Hessen with 91 single rooms. In Sundern, North-Rhine Westphalia, the very first Kursana Quartiershaus is planned to open in 2020, at the latest. This will accommodate both out-patient and in-patient care under one roof: out-patient services, a residential group for people with dementia, serviced accommodation and day-care.

KulturKindergarten will expand its activities to include independent child-care facilities with allotments for companies and will drive further growth through acquisition.

Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus
Following thorough renovation, Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus increased sales by almost three percent. A new management team is applying a multi-channel strategy which makes both online and offline products and services available.

Digital Dussmann
In the context of the Next Level strategy, the Dussmann Group plans to harness new technologies with the aid of collaborations, alliances and joint ventures. FM trends indicate increased digital interaction between clients, service personnel and infrastructure.  A higher level of digitalization improves the quality of services, accelerates processes and makes work easier for personnel by taken on physically demanding tasks.

One example of consistent digitalization is the global software license acquired in 2018 for the Dussmann computer aided facility management system DIAS. The objective of DIAS 2.0 is to increase transparency and to create added value for the client. The earlier version was deployed in the provision of technical services to facilitate control of technical servicing and inspection and to generate accurate documentation. The scope of DIAS 2.0 is being expanded to other service processes e.g. to cleaning and conference services.

An example from the cleaning services division proves that digital solutions often come with additional benefits for both clients and staff. Tests with autonomous cleaning machines have demonstrated that productivity is increased whilst maintaining the same levels of cleaning quality. The work of cleaning operatives is less physically demanding and more attractive; monotonous, strenuous tasks which must often be carried at night, can be taken on by the machine - all benefits for employees. Programming and monitoring of the autonomous machine remains in the hands of cleaning personnel upgrading the job and making it more interesting.

Hospitality and digital innovation are not mutually exclusive. In its catering operations across the world, Dussmann Service is currently introducing new, client-oriented solutions for diner communication and payment systems. New software has enabled Dussmann Service to personalize the meal experience and to facilitate dialog with guests at the large staff restaurant at PCK Schwedt in the Uckermark region. Information about the meal plan, promotions, information about allergens and additives is available from internet via the phone or other mobile devices and on the screens in the restaurant.

Further digital projects to answer client needs were initiated in 2018: from the Austria-wide app zcircle for online press access, to online survey using QR codes, to high-tech tableware. Intelligent tableware is revolutionizing the payment process at restaurant cash desks generating more time for diners to enjoy the meal. By means of built-in data chips, the tableware “knows” what food or beverage is on/in it and how much it costs. RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology enables contact-free transfer of data to the payment system.

With 66,122 employees in 17 countries, the Dussmann Group provides services for people, by people. The largest service division, Dussmann Service, provides technical services, catering, security, reception, cleaning, surgical sterilization, commercial facility management and energy management from a single source. DKA constructs, installs and services all types of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment and systems. HEBO Aufzugstechnik GmbH constructs premium elevators and modernizes, services and repairs existing elevators. Kursana nurses and cares for 13,600 seniors. The Dussmann Group operates the media department store Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus in Berlin and in-house corporate child-care at Dussmann KulturKindergarten facilities. In 2018, the Dussmann Group generated total sales of 2.34 billion Euros. More information at news.dussmanngroup.com.