Dussmann Group marks 60th anniversary presenting record figures for fiscal 2022

10.05.2023 – Dussmann Group concluded fiscal 2022 with record sales of €2.8 billion. The EBITDA margin stood at 6.1%, about the same high level as the previous year (6.4%). “We saw profitable growth and boosted our sales and result. Practically all of it was organic growth,“ said Wolf-Dieter Adlhoch, CEO of Dussmann Group, during the annual press conference in Berlin. “Once again, we reaped the benefits of having increased our focus on technology as part of our Next Level strategy. Technical business now accounts for 21 percent of consolidated Group sales. Dussmann Group is entering its seventh decade as a family company healthy and in excellent shape for what lies ahead,” Adlhoch said.

In particular, Dussmann Technical Solutions and the business in Italy drove growth in fiscal 2022. Still, the challenges that Dussmann Group faced in the last fiscal year included the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the Care & Kids division, rising energy and food costs, as well as higher labor costs driven by upward adjustments under collective agreements.

Profitable growth driven organically
Dussmann Group increased its consolidated Group sales from €2.3 billion to €2.8 billion in fiscal 2022, an increase of 20.2%. The EBITDA margin stood at 6.1%, on the same level as in the previous year (6.4%), outperforming expectations.

The Dussmann company division, which brings together integrated facility management, food services and technical solutions, increased its sales by 25,8% to €2.3 billion, so it was responsible for 80,8% of the consolidated Group sales (2021: €1.8 billion). Dussmann Facility Management and Food Services collectively accounted for €1.9 billion of that amount, which works out to a sales increase of 17.5% (2021: €1.6 billion). Dussmann was especially successful in Italy, due primarily to strong new customer business in the healthcare segment. The food services business in Germany also performed well – with pandemic restrictions having been eliminated, the number of guests rose at corporate restaurants in particular. Dussmann Technical Solutions, which was founded in 2019 as the umbrella organization for all the company’s specialists in plant engineering and technical services, accounted for €393 million in sales (2021: €208 million). The jump in growth is due primarily to the conclusion of a number of major multiyear electrical engineering projects with customers from the life sciences sector and data centers. Dussmann Technical Solutions has only now been able to record the full amount of net proceeds after the completion of these multiannual projects.

The Care & Kids division, which encompasses senior care (Kursana) and day care for children (Dussmann KulturKindergarten and Kinder, Kinder), held steady at the previous year’s level, posting sales of €496 million (previous year: €496 million), contributing 17.8% to the entire consolidated Group sales in 2022.

Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus managed to surpass pre-pandemic sales once again, gaining 26.7% to stand at €38 million (2021: €30 million). This success of Germany’s largest media store is due first and foremost to strong growth in its e‑commerce division and to the recovery of tourism in Berlin.

The number of employees working at Dussmann Group around the world increased from 64,600 to 66,000 by the end of 2022.

Next-level strategy: solutions for megatrends as a flexible strategic partner
In implementing its Next Level strategy, Dussmann Group identifies solutions for megatrends as a strategic partner to its customers. “As an agile family company, we manage to contribute to long-term partnerships with customers, understand their challenges, and find flexible solutions,” Adlhoch commented. Current challenges in the real estate sector include the increasing importance of ESG and sustainability criteria. Dussmann Group harnesses efficient building technology to help its customers shrink their CO₂ footprint. It also markets and installs charging solutions for electric vehicles through Chargemaker, a joint venture with energy supplier Mainova. Dussmann Group earned a platinum score from EcoVadis for its sustainability strategy, putting it in the top one percent of all companies analyzed worldwide. It is currently working with sensor and software experts to develop a building monitoring system toolbox. The toolbox collects, monitors, and analyzes key energy data on a building to report the ESG information and unlock future efficiency gains.

Dussmann Group collaborates closely with partners to develop solutions like these for the megatrend of digitalization or configures its own products. Mobile video towers build in-house help Dussmann experts to monitor construction sites, for example.

The Dussmann Group also offers solutions for societal megatrends such as the globalization of work and the business world, New Work, and the aging of society, all in line with the credo inherited from Peter Dussmann: identifying and serving people’s needs. One example is the company’s partnership with startup eurekantine.de, for which Dussmann produces foods and beverages sold for lunch in smart vending machines. This is an excellent solution when corporate restaurants are no longer used regularly since the increase in working from home, and operating an own kitchen is not economically viable for the client.

The Food Service Innovation Lab by Dussmann is on a mission to effect change in people’s diets by developing foods that are good for both people and the planet. Guests can try out the lab’s offerings at Europe’s first planet-based restaurant, Ursprung, which is located inside the Dussmann-Haus in Berlin. Dussmann plans to introduce this concept at corporate restaurants step by step.

Through Kursana, Dussmann Group also regularly creates further advanced care facilities for seniors to serve our aging society. The 24 childcare centers now managed by Dussmann help parents and companies to strike a good balance between family and working life.

2023: challenges versus acquisitions and major orders
As in 2022, the challenges that lie ahead in 2023 include rising energy and food costs and higher labor costs driven by upward adjustments under collective agreements. Dussmann Group expects these overall economic and regulatory conditions to remain challenging to the Group itself and its clients. Tighter regulation of nursing and personal care is also expected this year.

Dussmann Group is currently refining its Next Level strategy for 2023–2028. “Our goal is to continue to gear up for integrated, often cross-regional facility management tenders. Our clients are looking for ways to reduce complexity. We are also aiming to further grow our expertise and the range of technical services and technical building equipment we offer – which we plan to do through further acquisitions, mainly in the German-speaking countries and the EMEA region,” Adlhoch said.

At the start of fiscal 2023, Dussmann Group once again expanded its technical footprint and its portfolio of technical services and technical building equipment as part of its Next Level strategy by making two acquisitions. Dussmann Group is benefitting from its financial strength when making acquisitions. Dussmann acquired the entire workforce and selected assets and projects from Speidel GmbH, a medium-sized provider of electrical and communications technology based in Göppingen, in February 2023 and is continuing the business under the name Dussmann Speidel Elektro GmbH. Then, in March 2023, Dussmann acquired the operations of automatic Klein GmbH, a provider of industrial process automation solutions. For these services, the company created Dussmann Industrial Automation GmbH, a business unit of Dussmann Technical Solutions.

Dussmann Group won a large number of contracts for integrated facility management in 2022 and the first few months of 2023. For example, Bosch Group is trusting in the many different building services offered by Dussmann Facility Management at 50 properties around Germany, with a total area of more than 800,000 square meters. Dussmann is partnering with another FM service provider to operate the buildings at 100 of Hamburger Sparkasse’s 200 locations. Dussmann also provides integrated facility management services to the Swiss armed forces (Armasuisse) in Zurich and northeastern Switzerland. Dussmann Italy, which has always done a brisk business in cleaning trains and train stations, recently secured further cleaning contracts for Intercity trains and for the 6 largest train stations in Italy.

At Kursana, the second Kursana Quartier, which brings together a full range of residential and care options under a single roof, is currently under construction in Nauen, in the state of Brandenburg.

Dussmann Group celebrates its 60^th anniversary and plants future

“My husband, Peter Dussmann, founded this company 60 years ago. I am very proud and grateful when I look at how far we have come. He put modern facility management on the map in Germany, and for 60 years now, our employees have been working hard each and every day to serve our customers,” Catherine von Fürstenberg-Dussmann, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, said at the annual press conference in Berlin.

Dussmann Group has launched a number of campaigns to express its appreciation. Among other activities, it calls on employees worldwide to volunteer. It then converts all hours worked into trees that are to be planted together in the fall during special team events. With an eye to the 60^th anniversary, Dussmann Group also refreshed its brands, which now represent the modern family company appropriately and with vivid impact among internal and external audiences alike.

About the Dussmann Group
At Dussmann Group, 66,000 people work across 21 countries, contributing their ideas and passion for people. The Berlin-based service company posted consolidated Group sales of €2.8 billion across its three company divisions in 2022. The largest of the divisions, Dussmann, provides solutions born of its passion for facility management, food services, and technical solutions. Dussmann Facility Management combines all the services involved in integrated facility management, with a high proportion of the work performed in-house within the organization: building cleaning, security services, building technology, electrical and communications technology, and charging solutions for electric vehicles. Dussmann Food Services offers diverse and sustainable dining concepts for children, employees, patients, and residents of senior facilities, all with warm hospitality. Dussmann Technical Solutions encompasses all the business units involved in technical plant and systems engineering and technical services. They offer solutions spanning the entire life cycle of systems and buildings, from planning and installation to commissioning, service, and repairs in the fields of electrical engineering, automation technology, cooling, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, and elevator technology. The Care & Kids division operates the Kursana brand, providing care for 13,400 seniors, and the Dussmann KulturKindergarten brand, which provides childcare for working parents. The family-run Dussmann Group also operates Germany’s largest media store, Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus in Berlin.